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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



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INSTINCT AS RELATED 
TO EDUCATION 

By 

John Milton Mclndoo, Ph. D. 



A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF 
CLARK UNIVERSITY, WORCESTER, MASS., IN PARTIAL 
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE 
OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, AND ACCEPTED ON THE 
RECOMMENDATION OF G. STANLEY HALL 



a./7 






DETBOIT 
PUBLISHBD Bt THB AlTTHOi 



dIP^p 



LB 1/2/ 



Copyright, 1914, 

By JOHN MILTON McINDOO, PH. D., 

Detroit, Mich. 



•^^W 22 1914 



(e.niAS62253 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION/ 

by JOHN MILTON McINDOO, Ph. D. 



PART I. 

The question, "What shall we teach?" cannot be answered 
until after we have solved the problem of the spontaneous or 
native interests of the child. These native interests are de- 
termined by the innate or instinctive tendencies which func- 
tion in the child according to pre-established laws laid down 
in his nervous system. -f-On this point, McDougall, in his 
Social Psychology, says : 'The human mind has certain in- 
nate or inherited tendencies which are the essential springs 
or motive powers of all thought and action, whether individual 
or collective, and are the bases from which the character and 
will of individuals and of nations are gradually developed 
under the guidance of the intellectual faculties." 

If we could take any adult mind and remove the last ac- 
cretion added to it, and the next, and so on till we came to 
the center of the complex accretions of years, we should find 
the very first firmly adhering to a native interest. If we 
could be permitted to continue this analysis of mental growth 
we should find these native interests as having resulted from 
the functioning of innate or instictive tendencies. These in- 
nate tendencies are the child's inheritance from the past, and, 
as stated above, evolve in him according to pre-established 
laws laid down as engrams in his nervous system. As these 
instinctive tendencies evolve, they function as native interests. 
Since this is racial, rather than individual, it is true of every 
normal child. Education must wait upon the genetic func- 
tioning of these innate tendencies, and through the native in- 
terests thus evolved, must find its way of approach to the 
child. 

The work of educating the child is not the work of stor- 
ing his mind with facts, but rather is it the work of furnishing 
the proper stimuli for his innate tendencies — to cause them to 
function properly and normally during their nascent periods. 

' It would be impossible for the writer to acknowledge in detail the 
many sources from which he drew in preparing this thesis. He is 
especially indebted to the lectures and writings of President G. Stan- 
ley Hall and Dr. William H. Burnham, and to the personal guidance 
and inspiration of these able leaders in the fields of genetic psychology 
and education. He wishes also to acknowledge his indebtedness to 
Dr. Louis N. Wilson and his able corps of helpers, of the Clark Uni- 
versity Library. 



Z INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

These tendencies are, in the earlier years of the child's life, 
general and varied in their manner of functioning. This 
makes it necessary that the mental pabulum furnished the 
child be rich and varied in its nature. The child is interested 
in things as wholes; with details his mind has little to do; 
but he is interested in a great many things. His mind is far 
larger in its range of tendencies and interests than any course 
of study. Courses of study should be radically revised and 
then highly enriched along the lines of the child's native in- 
terests. 

Later on in this thesis in the treatment of each instinct, 
I shall attempt to show what the child is naturally interested 
in — that is, what his native interests are, arising from the 
genetic functioning of his innate tendencies or instincts. If 
the child's innate tendencies have been richly and widely 
stimulated, his mind will become a highly endowed appercep- 
tion organ and he will possess a many-sided interest in things. 

The genetic functioning of the instincts gives rise to 
nascent periods, a knowledge of which is of vast importance 
in the education of the child and adolescent. Without a 
knowledge of the nascent periods of these innate tendencies, 
we must ever blunder in our treatment of the child. The 
error of the school has been to see in the child the finished 
product of adulthood without, at the same time, seeing the 
many crooks and turns of the genetic highway along which 
the child and adolescent must travel before reaching the 
state of adulthood. The result has been to measure the child 
by adult standards and to use hot-bed methods all along the 
line to force the growth of the child — to make of him an 
adult before his time, and to produce on every hand cases of 
arrested development. 

^ To understand the child, we must understand his in- 
stinctive life. In fact, this is the child. These instinctive 
tendencies are the sum total of the survival values that have 
been selected from the spontaneous variations, through 
natural selection, in the struggle of the race for existence. 
They are the very best that the past has to offer the future. 
On the stage of human consciousness each one of these race 
tendencies or instincts must play its part and stamp its im- 
press upon the life of the child. Thus, the best that has 
survived from the experience of the race is recapitulated and 
laid down as permanent stratifications in the life of the child. 

Concerning the importance of the innate tendencies and 
their universal possession by both man and the lower animals, 
McDougall, in his Social Psychology, writes as follows : 
"The evidence that the native basis of the human mind, con- 
stituted by the sum of these innate tendencies, has this stable, 
unchanging character, is afforded by comparative psychology. 
For we find not only these tendencies, in stronger or weaker 
degree, are present in men of all races now living on the earth, 
but that we may find all of them or at least the germs of them, 
in most of the higher animals. Hence, there can be little 
doubt that they played the same essential part in the minds 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 6 

of the primitive human stock, or stocks, and in the pre-human 
ancestors that bridged the great gap in the evolutionary series 
between man and the animal world." 

Educational systems, based first on one power or process 
of the human mind and then on another, have come and gone. 
Some made memory training their basis ; some, sense train- 
ing; some, the power or process of association, and still others, 
the Herbartians, of whom I shall speak later on, made the 
action and reaction of ideas one upon another, the basis of 
their educational system. Of these systems, the only one 
that still has any considerable degree of recognition is the last 
named, the Herbartian. Two or three decades ago Herbartian 
pedagogy dominated educational thought in this country, but 
is being rapidly supplanted by the child study movement, 
initiated by President Hall some thirty years ago, and since 
that time so vigorously prosecuted under his leadership. It 
is to this movement that this thesis aspires to be a contribu- 
tion, the subject of which is the pedagogy of the instincts. 

Since Darwin revolutionized biology by his theories of 
evolution, our most far-seeing psychologists have taken their 
cue from evolutionary biology. They have seen that the 
evolution of man, both physically and mentally, is only a con- 
tinuation of the evolution of lower animal life ; that in the 
earlier years of childhood the child recapitulates many of the 
mental and physical traits of animal life immediately below 
man, as is seen in comparing the child of a few months with 
apes and monkeys. Concerning Darwin's influence on psychol- 
ogy, McDougall writes as follows : "For it is only a compar- 
ative and evolutionary psychology that can provide the needed 
basis ; and this could not be created before the work of Darwin 
had convinced men of the continuity of human with animal 
evolution as regards all bodily characters, and had prepared 
the way for the quickly following recognition of the similar 
continuity of man's mental evolution with that of the animal 
world." 

Let us leave, for a time, the biological aspect of the 
subject, which we shall have need to refer to frequently, and 
take up the subject of interest. The term interest is so 
closely associated with the term Herbartianism that before 
entering upon a discussion of the subject of interest it is 
necessary to give some attention to the notion of interest as 
held by Herbart and some of his so-called followers. In this 
brief discussion of Herbart's notion of interest, I shall try 
to show its inadequacy, and to show that th'e true basis of 
interest is found in a study of the instincts ; that it is a ques- 
tion that belongs to the pedagogy of the instincts. 

In criticising Herbart's notion of interest, Dewey has this 
to say : "According to this psychological view, interest is 
not psychical activity, but is a product of the actions and 
reactions of ideas. Interest is simply one case of feeling, and 
all the feeling depends upon the mechanism of ideas. In his 
desire to get rid of the 'faculty' psychology, Herbart denies 
any original or primitive character to either impulse or feel- 



"4 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

ing." Thus, we see interest holds a subordinate place. Ideas 
contend for place above the threshold of consciousness. In 
this contention some fuse. This fusion is apperception, and 
gives a kind of pleasurable feeling which Herbart calls in- 
terest. To quote again from Dewey : "Interest is attached 
in no sense to the content of the ideas, aiming at appreciating 
their intrinsic values, but depends wholly on the formal inter- 
action of the ideas." By putting the emphasis on ideas, it 
is but a step to transferring the emphasis to the child's en- 
vironment, or better, perhaps, to the subject matter taught 
him, which is the source of the ideas, so that we can readily 
see how, by following this system, teachers have lost sight of 
the child. I shall conclude this by quoting again from Dewey : 
"The weakness, both of the Herbartian psychology and ped- 
agogy, seems to me to lie just here — in giving the idea a sort 
of external existence, a ready-made character, an existence 
and a content not dependent upon previous individual activ- 
ity. It abstracts the idea from impulses and the activity that 
results from them." =k * * This doctrine fails "to recog- 
nize the genesis of ideas, the conceived ends out of concrete, 
spontaneous action." "Herbartianism seems to me especially 
a schoolmaster's psychology, not the psychology of a child." 

Interest has been defined as the affective state, resulting 
from the reaction of the organism to the object from which 
the stimulation comes. In the case of man this, of coursCj 
may refer to an object of sense or of thought. 
I Some psychologists maintain that a functioning instinct 
lias three aspects, the perceptual, the affective, and the cona- 
jtive. Later on I shall discuss these in detail, under the head- 
'ing of instinct. The perceptual gives rise to the second, the 
affective ; this in turn gives rise to the third and culminating 
phase, the conative, which marks the apex of the inciting 
element. The second phase, the affective, is at the basis of, 
and gives rise to, the native or natural interests. Interest has 
its beginning in the functioning of the instincts. This affec- 
tive state, which has its beginning in the functioning of the 
instincts, passes over into the affective state called interest. 
This exists in all degrees of intensity and permanency from 
the interest of the moment to those interests that become 
permanent stratifications of the mind. It is a certain relation- 
ship established between the self and the inciting object. 

It should be emphasized that interest is not in the object 
for its own sake. It is only as it stimulates to activity some 
innate tendency that it has interest for the individual. The 
affective aspect or feeling aroused is the interest. This is of 
great pedagogical importance for the teacher and makes it 
imperative that she follow the innate tendencies in selecting 
the mental pabulum for her pupils. 

The selecting of subject matter in an arbitrary manner — 
that is, without reference to the child's native interests — is a 
conmion error of our schools. This is perhaps more pre- 
valent in our high schools than it is in our common schools. 
One of the reasons for this is that the high schools are domi- 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. ^ 

nated to a great extent by the colleges which compel the high 
schools to make their courses of study fit the college entrance 
requirements. Much revision of courses of study is needed 
not only in the high school, but in the elementary school as 

well. 

Much of the subject matter is thus selected without ref- 
erence to the child's native interests, and the teacher is 
enjoined to make it interesting. As a result, there is divided 
attention on the part of the pupil— a division of his mental 
activities. In the words of Dewey: "Externally, we have 
mechanical habits with no psychical end or value. Internally, 
we have random energy or mind-wandering, a sequence of 
ideas with no end at all. because not brought to a focus in ac- 
tion." 

By forcing the child to give attention to those things 
corresponding to which he has no natural tendencies, we force 
him to acquire the habit of divided attention. This condition 
of divided attention is perhaps more prevalent than we are 
aware. In a mechanical way the pupil tries to learn the lesson 
in such a way as to allow his mental imagery to be free to 
occupy itself with matters more to its liking. The best part 
of the pupil's mental powers is usually thus engaged in matters 
in which he is really interested while he is forcing himself, in 
a superficial way, to give attention to the matter in hand. 
Total lack of interest, in the normal child, is unthinkable. 
I'He is interested in something and this something is closely 
related to his instinctive tendencies. The thing is interesting 
to the child because it stimulates to action, or causes to func- 
tion his innate tendencies that are nascent at that time. 
Dewey sums up briefly this whole matter as follows: "An 
interest is primarily a form of self-expressive activitv — that is, 
of growth through acting upon nascent tendencies." 

In looking through psychological literature, one finds 
much disagreement as to what instinct is. For the purposes 
of this thesis, the term will be given its widest significance, 
such as is given it by James. Ke writes as follows in defining 
the instincts : "They are the functional correlatives of struc- 
ture. The nervous system is. to a great extent, a preorganized 
bundle of such reactions. Every instinct is an impulse. 
Whether we call such impulses as blushing, sneezing, cough- 
ing, smelling, or dodging.^ or keeping time to music, instincts 
or not, is a mere question of terminology. The process is the 
same throughout." 

. Boodin defines instinct as "a response to stimulus deter- 
mined by congenital structure." 

McDougall. in bis Social Psychology, writes as follows: 
"Instinctive action implies some enduring nervous basis whose 
organization is inherited, an innate or inherited psycho- 
physical disposition, which, anatomically regarded, probably 
has the form of a compound system of sensori-motor arcs." 

Marshall, in his Instinct and Intelligence, defines instinct 
a.-, follows: "All instincts appear as modes of that simplest 



b INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

of all forms of activity, the reaction of a living cell to the 
stimulus received from its environment." 

Lloyd Morgan is disposed to take this broader view of 
instinct. He says : '*It appears to me, then, that for pur- 
poses of psychological interpretation, in so far as this is 
concerned with the early stages of the genesis of experience, 
we should so far broaden the connotation of the term 'instinct' 
as to include all those primary and inherited modes of be- 
havior, including reflex acts, which contribute to what I have 
termed the primary tissue of experience." In another place 
he speaks of the importance of what he calls "instinctive be- 
havior." He says : "Instinctive behavior is serviceable on 
the first occasion. Serviceable for survival. In further detail, 
serviceable for avoiding danger by shrinking, quiescence, or 
flight; serviceable for warding ofif the attacks of enemies; 
serviceable for obtaining food, capturing prey, and so forth ; 
serviceable for winning and securing a mate, for protecting 
and rearing offspring; in social animals, serviceable for co- 
operating with others and so behaving that not only the 
individual but the social group shall survive." 

The above quoted definitions of instinct are, in a general 
way, in harmony with the notion of the term as it is treated 
in this thesis. Instincts are so soon modified by experience 
that they soon lose their so-called pure nature. Only a few 
of the instincts, such as sucking, crawling, wailing, winking, 
that function shortly after birth, are determined purely by 
innate dispositions. Most of the human instincts ripen at a 
later date when they are modified by a considerable degree of 
intelligence and imitation, but this does not detract in the 
least from their instinctive nature. On account of these modi- 
fications, it is reasonable to suppose that their manifestations 
differ markedly from those of primitive man. Let us note, 
however, that the difference is not in the initial aspect of the 
instinct, but in the modifications due to environment. Let the 
child be reared in a savage environment, then the instinct 
would become recrudescent in its functioning. 

Many instincts at first are rather general in their nature, 
but become specialized to react to certain objects and to 
neglect others. There is a tendency at first to recoil or rather 
start at any loud noise, but experience teaches that certain 
noises are not accompanied by any harm, so that these noises 
cease to arouse the instinct of fear; on the other hand, certain 
noises are found to be usually accompanied by danger, and so 
the instinct of fear becomes specialized in that particular 
direction. This will no doubt explain the so-called acquisition 
of instincts during the life of the individual. It is more 
reasonable to suppose that it is the specializing of some gen- 
eral instinct in a particular direction. Experience enters into 
this process of specialization. 

There are many instincts of the so-called deferred type 
.which appear at various periods after birth. The sex instinct 
may be cited as an example. These instincts, though deferred 
in their functioning, are not acquired but are just as innate 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. / 

as are the instincts that function at birth or very soon after, 
before experience is able to play much of a role. In fact, 
most of our instincts are of the "deferred" type. They must 
wait on structural development. When the structural con- 
ditions are ripe, if the proper stimuli present themselves, then 
the innate tendency functions as an instinct. This instinct 
may be of the transitory type, whose functioning is necessary 
to the functioning of higher but related instincts. Certain 
objectionable elements may be eliminated by karthasis and 
certain other elements sublimated to higher forms and strati- 
fications of psychic life. Take, for example, the fighting 
instinct. If it is arrested on a lower plane of development, 
we have the brute. If crushed out, we have the coward. If 
properly purgated and sublimated, we have the man of grit, 
determination and courage. 

Experience has its beginning in the innate tendencies or 
instincts. The functioning of the instincts puts the mind in 
the attitude of assimilation. This act of mental assimilation 
is at first very simple, but becomes more complex as the in- 
stincts become more complex in their functioning. It seems 
a contradiction of terms to say that this assimilative process 
is at first attended with little, if any, discrimination. This 
assimilation attending the early functioning of the instincts, 
is so void of discrimination that it might be called mental 
growth by accretion. This, however, is from the standpoint 
of the conscious process. In the broad sense of the term, 
discrimination, from the very first, is active. It is itself in- 
stinctive in its nature. Later a great part of this discrimi- 
nation is handed over to habit and intelligence. 

Coercion in our schools, when carried too far, is one of 
the causes of arrested development, since it often indiscrimi- 
-nately thwarts or impedes the normal functioning of the 
innate tendencies. They thus atrophy or are arrested on a 
lower plane of development. 

, Not only is the question of what to teach of prime im- 
portance, but also is the question of thoroughness — especially 
the danger of thoroughness — equally important. Like all 
good things, it can easily be abused. The degree of thorough- 
ness will depend altogether on the stage of development at 
which the child is arrived ; and, too, it will depend on the 
nature of the work being presented at that particular time. 
When thoroughness is carried to the point where the child 
begins to mark time, a halt should be called. The evil of 
thoroughness leads to another evil — the evil of compelling 
pupils to repeat grades. Too much thoroughness in the earlier 
years of the child's life leads to early specialization, making 
impossible the laying of a broad foundation and the estal^lish- 
ing of a many-sided interest. Such procedure does not allow 
his varied range of tendencies to function properly, and thus ar- 
rested development of the neglected tendencies is produced, as 
well as an arrested development of the overspecialized ten- 
dencies. By narrowing down to a few things, the child's 
mental processes become fixed at the expense of spontaneous 



8 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

variation. May not much of the narrowness and bigotry in 
adult life be traced back to the evils that cause arrested de- 
velopment in the child? 

McDougall maintains that every instinctive act has three 
aspects ; the cognitive, the afifective, and the conative, and 
adds : "Every instance of instinctive behavior involves a 
knowing of some thing or object, a feeling in regard to it, and 
a striving towards or away from that object." The first as- 
pect of the instinctive process, the cognitive or perceptual, 
refers, of course, to that part of the process which has to do 
with the stimulating of the nerve centers ; but with reference 
to the second and third it is perhaps impossible to say where 
the feelings leave off and will begins. For convenience of 
treatment, it may be permissible to consider the instinctive 
process as having the three aspects contended for by Mc- 
Dougall. 

The energy generated in the nerve centers as the culmi- 
nation of the cognitive or perceptual aspect of the instinctive 
process — call this energy psychic, neural, or whatever you 
please — spreads to nearly all parts of the body, especially to 
the visceral organs, the heart, lungs, blood vessels, glands, 
etc. The feelings or emotions thus generated we may, for 
convenience, call the affective aspect of the instinctive process. 
Som;e psychologists call these feelings — at least some bf «^ 
them — instinctive feelings, or even instincts. I shall discuss 
the so-called instinctive feelings later on. Of the third aspect 
of the instinctive process, McDougall writes as follows: "Its 
constitution determines the distribution of impulses to the 
muscles of the skeletel system by which the instinctive action 
is effected, and its nervous activities are the correlates of the 
conative element of the psychical process of the felt impulse 
to action." 

McDougall maintains that the cognitive and conative as- 
pects of the instinctive act may be very materially modified 
during the life of the individual, while the affective remains 
practically unchanged. He says : "It persists throughout 
life as the essential unchanging nucleus of the disposition." 

In taking up again a further consideration of the feelings 
that accompany the functioning of the instincts, and especially 
certain ones of the most fundamental of the instincts, let us 
note a few of such pairs. There is the instinct of flight ac- 
companied by the emotion of fear. There is the instinct of 
pugnacity accompanied by the emotion of anger. There 
is the instinct of curiosit}^ accompanied by the emotion 
of wonder. And so we might go on and name a long list of 
instincts with their instinctive emotions or affective aspects. 
Tt should be noted in this connection that the most fundamental 
of the instincts, those that have to do with the preservation 
of the individual and the continuation of the species, as for 
example, the instincts of flight, pugnacity, parental, and sex. 
are accompanied by the strongest instinctive emotions or af- 
fective aspects. It seems that the function of the affective 
aspect is to reinforce the conative aspect of the instinctive 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. ^ 

act, to make more certain its execution. It seems reasonable 
to suppose that the affective aspect of the instincts evolved in 
the history of the race through variation and natural selection 
because it gave to its possessor greater chances for survival. 
Fear, added to length of legs, increases the possibility of suc- 
cessful flight from the enemy ; anger, added to sharpness of 
claws and teeth, increases the chances of success, and there- 
fore survival, in a bodily encounter with the enemy. There- 
fore, it seems certain that the function of the emotional ele- 
ment in the instinctive process or act is to make more certain 
the successful carrying out of the instinctive act. 

In the functioning of certain instincts, especially those 
on which prohibitions are placed by laws of modern social 
life, this affective or emotional element becomes a dangerous 
by-product through inhibitions and repressions. The pugna- 
cious or fighting instinct, and the instinct to kill, may be cited 
as examples. Through the accumulation, or, perhaps better, 
the damming up of these unused psychic forces the soul is 
thrown out of balance. Much unhappiness is thus brought 
into the life of the individual and also into the lives of those 
about him. In a certain sense these instincts may be con- 
sidered vestigial, or at least becoming so. They were once 
important in the preservation of the life of their possessor, 
but are gradually losing this importance. They were useful 
so recently in race history that they still have strong ten- 
dencies to function, especially the fighting instinct. They 
cannot, nor should they, be got rid of. They must be trans- 
formed to higher planes of functioning through the treatment 
of katharsis and sublimation. The chief means for this are 
literature and games of contest, as well as hunting and fish- 
ing, the school iiaving to do chiefly with the first two means. 

The question of the katharsis of the instinctive emotions 
is one of far-reaching importance, but one on which, so 
far as I know, very little has been written. It is through 
literature that its best and most effective work can be done. 
Through the stimulation of literature the individual is able 
to do those things in his imagination which are forbidden him 
in real life. In this way the dangerous tendencies function 
in a harmless manner and psychic equanimity is restored. It 
seems to me that in a thorough-going treatment of the peda- 
gogy of the instincts, the question of the katharsis of the in- 
stinctive emotions should be given a prominent place. 
>/ The aim of education should be to develop and train the 
child's best tendencies, so that they will pass over into habit. 
The dangerous tendencies should be rendered harmless 
through purgation and sublimated to higher planes of func- 
tioning. Thus do we build character. The roots of character 
should strike down deep into the great fundamental instints 
of man. This means that the foundations for right character 
building must be laid in the early years of the child's life. 
When tendencies to react to objects of one's environment are 
inhibited, there is a disposition to fly from the real to the ideal 
— for the self to attempt to create an ideal situation whose 



10 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 



environment will allow these tendencies to function normally, 
or rather according to their bent. The very soul of poetry 
and of fiction is the materialization in literary forms, both 
oral and written, of this impulse to fly from the real to the 
ideal. In the evolution of the human mind it seems reason- 
able to suppose that the impulse to escape the real and to find 
satisfaction elsewhere was an important factor in the evolu- 
tion of the imagination. It seems to me that this suggests 
why literature is such an important factor in working a 
katharsis or purgation of these instinctive emotions. The 
feelings thus generated form the primary tissue of those feel- 
ings that make up what we call an interest in literature. This 
process of katharsis of the instinctive emotions is a sort of 
psychic efifervescence relieving the stress and strain of these 
pent up feelings. 

Play is the other realm of the imagination in which the 
soul of the growing child can freely exercise its race ten- 
dencies. This is the child's sacred privilege and adults should 
not interfere. The subject of play is introduced at this point 
because I believe it, like literature, can be shown to have an 
educational value, though perhaps not in as great a degree as 
literature, in working a katharsis of emotions of certain in- 
stincts that have a tendency to function in play activities. 
Spontaneity is the most important element in the play ac- 
tivity. If this element is lacking it cannot rightfully be called 
play. If this theory is true that through the play activity a 
katharsis can be worked of certain instinctive feelings that 
have a tendency to function in play, in such cases at least we 
must be sure of the element of spontaneity. This is perhaps 
sufficient at this point to show that the question of katharsis 
is inseparably bound up with the question of the genetic 
functioning of the instincts as native interests. 

A study of the structure and functions of the nervous 
system throws much light on the fundamental problems of 
education. It helps very materially in understanding the in- 
nate tendencies or instincts to make at least a brief survey of 
some of the chief points that have been worked out in recent 
years concerning the nervous system, that have a bearing on 
education. I shall give briefly a few of the facts concerning 
the nervous system that are of special importance for the 
genetic functioning of the innate tendencies or instincts. 

The work of education is not to increase the number of 
nerve cells in the body, for it has been pretty well established 
by neurologists that the number is fixed sometime before 
birth ; but rather is it the work of education to develop those 
already created. Each nerve cell has its period of imma- 
turity ; a period of rapid growth or nascency ; and lastly a 
period of maturity when little change can be made in it. It 
is injurious to try to force the cell to function before its 
nascent period or during its period of immaturity. This is 
likely to cause arrested development. It is dangerous to over- 
stimulate the cell during its nascent period ; this may also 
cause arrested development ; but it is very essential that the 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. H 

nerve centers be properly stimulated during their nascent 
periods. If the plastic nascent period is allowed to pass with- 
out the proper functioning of the center, then education has 
forever lost its opportunity. After the third period, the period 
of maturity of the nerve cell, has been reached, little change 
can be made in it. • i r 

It has been pretty well established that during the hrst 
few years of the child's life nerve cells develop much more 
rapidly than they do later; this no doubt accounts for the 
child's very rapid mental development during those early 
years. He has learned a little about such a wide range of ob- 
jects, we wonder how he has come so far in so short a time. 
Mental development is the correlate of the development and 
functioning of nerve cells. This takes place normally if prop- 
erly stimulated during the nascent period of growth. 

It is generally held by neurologists that the order of de- 
velopment of the nerve centers in the human nervous system 
corresponds in the main with the order of the evolution of the 
nervous system in animal life below man. 

The period of structural development of the nervous sys- 
tem of animals below man is comparatively short; hence, the 
instincts appear in close succession upon each other, and many 
apparently together. Most of them are functioning fully 
shortly after birth. Not so with man. The period of struc- 
■ tural development of the nervous system of the child and 
adolescent reaches over a span of more than twenty years. 
Parallel with this structural development of the nervous sys- 
tem is the functioning of the instincts in a certain order. In 
the evolution of man, spontaneous variation and natural selec- 
tion have built up an heirarchy of instincts. The order of the 
functioning of the instincts, as well as their number, is innate. 
Psychic growth depends upon this inner structural equip- 
ment, but this growth cannot take place without proper stimuli 
furnished by the environment. Not only in our lowest activ- 
ities, but also in our highest, our organic tendencies respond 
in an instinctive manner to the "call of the environment.''^ 
Unless structural conditions are ripe, the "call of environment 
will fall, as it were, upon deaf ears. The child, in its mental 
development, follovv-s the order of its structural development. 
These structural tendencies have been evolved and laid down 
as engrams in the nervous system during long years of race 
history. The individual is wound up, as it were, and_ is set 
off by proper stimuli. Abrupt changes take place in the 
stages of consciousness to correspond to the abrupt changes 
that take place in the development of structural conditions. 
This, no doubt, is the condition during the transition periods 
so well known in the growing child. These are periods of 
rapid readjustment, not only in the nervous system but also 
in the organs and !2:lands of the body as well. 

As the child advances in years and as the nervous system 
becomes more highly organized, instincts more and more com- 
plex in nature function. The social instincts are an example 
being among the last to be nascent. The successive stages of 



12 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

consciousness of the evolving psyche are the correlates of the 
inner structural development. Each stage has its own char- 
acteristic instincts. Natural selection for untold ages has 
been acting upon spontaneous variation and as a result has 
built up in the nervous system the structural tendencies which, 
acted upon by proper stimuli from the environment, cause the 
instinctive correlates of the structural tendencies to function, 
and are thus translai:ed into physic forces. These primal 
psychic forces form the very foundation of our psychic life, 
and all later psychic life is built upon this instinctive founda- 
tion as a superstructure. On the fundamental importance of 
instinctive life, Guillet writes as follows : "While there is no 
such thing as an innate idea, still the mind of the child is not 
* * * a tabula rasa." It is creative — "a bundle of instinc- 
tive tendencies to growth." "This is the fundamental part 
of man and conditions the more conscious part of man." "In- 
stinct, not intelligence, still leads evolution." "Intelligence is 
continually baffled and superseded, but instinct displays itself 
with the old vigor in ever new forms." 

According to Hughlings Jackson, the nervous system 
may be regarded as made up of three levels, the first or lower 
has its centers chiefly in the spinal cord ; the second or middle 
has its centers chiefly in the sensori-motor areas of the brain, 
and the third or higher consists of the higher association cen- 
ters of the brain. The Jacksonian three-level theory is highly 
suggestive, but may be considered arbitrary. Instead of three 
levels there are no doubt many levels, so that it is perhaps 
better to refer to it as the level theory. In the ascending 
levels we find pretty much the same order as is found in the 
evolution of the nervous system in the lower form of life up 
to man. The mental life evolving from the functioning of 
the lowest levels is the most stable, and decreases in stability 
as the scale is ascended, so that the parts of the brain to de- 
velop latest are the least stable. This means that to overtax 
these higher centers is very dangerous. This should ever be 
borne in mind by the teacher, and she should strive at all 
times so to train the pupil that as much as possible will be 
turned over to the lower levels, thus making the work auto- 
matic and relieving the higher conscious centers. This ap- 
plies to much of the training in language, spelling, writing, etc. 
The child must be so trained that he will do the things cor- 
rectly with the least degree of consciousness. This is truly a 
conservation of mental energy, since it leaves the conscious 
forces free to do those things which cannot be handed over 
to the lower levels, and thus makes possible a greater degree 
of higher mental growth. 

In this necessary order of these structural functionings and 
the resulting instinctive tendencies, there are many tendencies 
and resulting interests that seem to the adult mind as useless 
to the child, and much efifort has been made by those not 
understanding child nature to suppress these tendencies and 
to stamp out these seemingly dangerous interests, which, if 
successful, has resulted in injury to the child; because if the 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 13 

theory of the levels is correct, then the tendency for certain 
'structures to function has been inhibited, which in their func- 
tioning made possible higher neural co-ordinations. For the 
higher co-ordinations of neural elements can take place, ac- 
cording to the laws of neural development, only when the 
lower co-ordinations have first taken place. It is nature's 
plan to pass through developmental stages, not only physically 
but also mentally, and it is our business as pedagogs to study 
this order and to follow it. We should cast to the void our 
adult standards in dealing with the growing child. 

In the life of every organism there are ever two forces at 
work, the inner tendency to vary and the necessity of adjust- 
ment to environment. These are referred to as spontaneous 
variation and natural selection, and are the determining prin- 
ciples in evolution. This tendency to vary belongs little to 
the fundamental organs, either physical or mental, but chiefly 
to the accessory organs — those evolved late in the history of 
the race. From this we have a right to infer that, in the 
innate tendencies whose structural correlates are in the higher 
levels, there is a greater tendency to vary and a greater degree 
of plasticity. And, indeed, we find this to be true. The in- 
stincts that function later in the child are so soon modified by 
experience that many psychologists deny that they are in- 
stincts. 

'-One of the most sacred heritages of the child is this ten- 
dency to variation. This is what places the stamp of indi- 
viduality upon him. This is especially what makes his life 
a contribution to the race. But this is just what our schools 
with their lock-step methods, and curricula based on adult 
standards, and mechanized systems, are stamping out. One 
of the most important lessons that our schools have to learn 
is discrimination — to study the individual needs of the pupil. 
It is the teacher's sacred duty to recognize budding genius 
and to foster it most carefully. The hope of the future is in 
the child and the adolescent. The school must assume a large 
share of the responsibility. The first lesson to be learned is 
to realize the gravity and importance of this sacred trust. 

The salvation of the child lies in remaining plastic. The 
period of childhood, as well as of adolescence, should be pro- 
longed. Specialization is the bane of childhood, as well as 
early adolescence. We should learn the lesson from biology 
that over-specialization is fatal, if pushed during the period 
when the individual should remain plastic. This long period 
of plasticity of the child and adolescent gives spontaneous 
variation its opportunity. It also gives opportunity for the 
innumerable innate tendencies to function in their natural 
order and to be laid down as permanent stratifications in the life 
of the individual. In this way the individual becomes the 
possessor of the best that the past has to offer the present. 
So to educate the child is to allow him to drink at the 
fountain of eternal youth. 

If, in the education of the child, we fail to stimulate to 
activity these innate tendencies, in their dynamic or genetic 



14 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

order, we may in the failure to call forth a certain tendency, 
make impossible the functioning of succeeding tendencies 
because of their being conditioned one upon the other. As an 
example, the instinct of heroism may depend to a great extent 
for its proper functioning on the previous proper functioning 
of the fighting instinct. The love of home may depend upon 
the proper functioning and proper katharsis of the migratory 
instinct. The love for, and proper appreciation of, literature 
may, in part at least, in its higher elements of rhythm and tone 
quality, depend on the previous proper functioning of the 
rhythmic instinct in its earlier and cruder forms. The higher 
in the scale the instinct is, the more complex it is, and the 
greater are its possibilities of variation and the greater the 
survival value for the individual. This makes possible the 
arousing and establishing of a many-sided interest, giving to 
its possessor a richer life. To say that we get just as much 
out of life as we bring to it, is another way of saying that we 
get just as much out of life as we have responding tendencies. 
For the one whose tendencies do not respond to the beauties 
of nature, the sky is simply the space above him, but for the 
poet it is "full of light and of deity." For Peter Bell, "the 
primrose by the river's brim, a yellow primrose was to him, 
and it was nothing more." For the farmer, it may be, the 
dandelion is only a noxious weed to be got rid of, but for the 
poet it is the "dear common flower that growest beside the 
way." 

Following is a summary of part one : 

1. The way of approach to the child is to be found 
through a study of his innate tendencies functioning as native 
interests. 

2. The affective or emotional aspect that attends the 
functioning of an instinctive or innate tendency is the basis 
of the interest in the object, thus stimulating this reaction. 

3. To attempt to force the child to learn that for which 
he has no corresponding tendencies is to force him into a 
condition of divided attention, let the teacher try as she will 
to make the thing interesting. 

4. This thesis regards instincts as "functional correla- 
tives of structure" or "responses to stimuli determined by 
congenital structure." The first is from James and the second 
from Boodin. 

5. Instincts that appear later on in the child's develop- 
ment are either of the deferred type or are specialized forms of 
some general tendency. 

6. Too much thoroughness, as well as over-specializa- 
tion, are both to be avoided in the education of the child and 
adolescent. Such a procedure causes arrested development ; 
it tends to destroy the plasticity of childhood and adolescence 
and thus to shorten their period of growth ; thus education 
defeats its own purpose in this failure to lay a broad founda- 
tion and to establish a many-sided interest. 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 15 

7. There are instinctive feelings that, through inhibitions 
and repressions, accumulate as a sort of dangerous by-product 
which must be eliminated by purgation or katharsis. Also 
vestigial tendencies, as well as tendencies exhibited in play, 
may be allowed to function, in a harmless way, through liter- 
ature and play, both of which are largely in the realm of the 
imagination. . . 

8. Natural selection, acting upon spontaneous variation 
for untold ages in the race, has built up in the nervous sys- 
tem the structural tendencies which, acted upon by stimuli 
from the environment, cause the instinctive correlatives of 
these structural tendencies to function and are thus trans- 
formed into psychic forces. These form the "primary tissue" 
of mental life. 

9. The structural tendencies of the lower levels give 
rise to innate tendencies that are more stable, but less variable, 
than those of the higher levels. Those of the lower levels are 
the fundamental, and those of the higher the accessory. The 
latter are more plastic but are less stable than those of the 
lower levels. 

10. The degree of education, or stage of culture, at 
whatever period of life, is measured by the number and 
variety of permanent tendencies that have been established 
in the individual through his reactions to his environment. 

PART II. 

Part two will be devoted to a consideration of the prin- 
cipal instincts or innate tendencies, taken up and considered 
separately, though their interrelations and interactions upon 
one another will be constantly noted. 

Instinct of Flight (fear). — In the evolution of the race the 
instinct of flight, with its accompanying emotion of fear, has 
had great survival value. In the lower animals the instinct 
of flight is accompanied by the impulse to run to cover and to 
seek safety in concealment. This impulse appears early in 
the child; indeed, as soon as he begins to run about. The 
child of four or five may be frightened by the product of his 
own fancies, though he knows full well that the object of his 
fright is a pet or even a play fellow or a member of his own 
family. The unfamiliar is ever a source of fear. The imagi- 
nation often runs riot in magnifying those objects or proper- 
ties of objects which the mind does not yet comprehend. 
Fear, if intense, takes complete control of the self to the ex- 
clusion of all other mental processes. A proper amount of 
fear is a wholesome corrective, making for moral good. 

Fear is an element in all religious tendencies. It is an 
element in the feelings of awe and reverence, which are in 
reality higher forms of fear. The deep and gloomy forest, the 
dark night, the thunder and lightning of the heavens — all 
these inspired in primitive man feelings of awe and reverence 
which were at the very basis of the evolution of his religious 



16 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

nature. These over-awing and fear-producing phenomena 
have left their indelible stamp on the soul of man. Through 
the psychic rudiments of fear, which tend to function in the 
life of the child, we find our way of approach in teaching 
certain phases of literature and nature study. Especially 
through literature these psychic rudiments of fear are stimu- 
lated to function and in this manner a katharsis is brought 
about, thus raising these tendencies to higher planes of func- 
tioning; or, perhaps, these psychic rudiments of fear, through 
this manner of functioning, fade out, according to Aristotle, 
and give place to higher and normxally succeeding forms of 
these tendencies. If these crass tendencies are arrested on a 
low plane of development, we have the coward, the vacillating 
individual, or the neurotic whose life is ever threatened by 
air-drawn daggers of the mind. 

Here, as everywhere, let us emphasize the principle that 
these psychic rudiments, though they may be mere echoes of 
tendencies, important in a remote past and now apparently of 
little use, are not to be stamped out, but are to be stimulated 
to a certain degree of activity, allowed to fade out or through 
this process of stimulation are raised to high planes of func- 
tioning. This can be done through literature, nature study, 
and play. 

To deal properly with rudimentary psychic tendencies, 
of which fear is one of the most important, is one of the most 
difficult problems of pedagogy. These tendencies, if not 
properly dealt with, tend to become morbid, just as rudimen- 
tary organs in the human body tend to become diseased. 

Fear is strongest in the child at about three or four years 
of age. This is due in part, perhaps, to the fact that his imagi- 
nation is very active and his judgment immature. The child 
experiences many fears in the dark, due, no doubt, to the fact 
that his senses cannot contradict what his imagination con- 
jures up. This does not argue against the instinctive nature 
of fear. Fear easily tends to become morbid in children. They 
should be guarded against sudden frights. While fear is one 
of nature's correctives and has much survival value, when 
functioning normally, yet it should never be used as a moral 
corrective by parents and teachers. Children should never be 
frightened into being good. Because of its effectiveness in 
getting immediate results, it has been used very much in the 
past, to the hurt of the child. 

If we should eliminate all fear from the human soul, much 
of the best in life would be lost. The child should be taught 
to fear aright. Too much fear leads to timidity and cowardice. 
A wholesome amount of fear tends to make the child cautious 
and prudent. 

In varying degrees, fear is a universal instinct in the lower animals 
as well as in man. One knows how easily a horse is frightened at a 
sudden noise or strange object. We have all watched the actions of 
the timorous mouse. Young chickens, without previous experience 
with such a danger, crouch or run to cover on the appearance of a 
hawk or other bird of prey. 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 17 

Miss Holbrook in her study, "Fear in Childhood" (Barnes' Studies 
in Education, Vol. II., p. 18), found that "fear in early childhood is 
most often a vague haunting terror of the dark, of awful shapes, of 
'something I know not what'." "Strangely enough, fear of the super- 
natural appear s only half as often as fear of the real world of thunder 
and shadow and dark, though without doubt the element of the super- 
known is a powerful one m a child's notion of the piienomeua we 
regard as purely natural and law-abiding." She found that death and 
hell and ghosts figured very slightly in the child's fears. Dark was 
feared most, monsters came next in order. She found in her returns 
that there is a certain fascination in fear. Also that fear has a sort 
of paralyzing effect. She concludes as follows: "Taken altogether, 
the conception of childish fear which evolves from this study is that 
of an unreasoning state of helplessness, induced through the undiffer- 
entiated senses by a consciousness of the Great Unknown, generally 
associated with insuflicient and fragmentary knowledge of the objec- 
tive world. To say this is to say fear is ignorance, and the appropriate 
remedy suggests itself readily. Turn on the searchlight of exact in- 
formation and objective fact, and exorcise the demon with the modern 
spirit of natural science and manual training." 

Instinct of Pugnacity (anger). — Wlien the functioning of 
any impulse is inhibited, an innate tendency or instinct is 
aroused called pugnacity, attended by the affective aspect 
called anger. Owing to its survival value in the history of 
the race, it is one of the very strongest of the impulses. And 
because it is conditioned by the functioning of other instincts, 
it is very common and very frequent in its appearance. Espe- 
cially is this true in the life of the child, but as his life grows 
richer in experience he learns to long-circuit these impulses. 
As these impulses become sublimated they are transformed 
into energy, which helps very materially in the functioning of 
other tendencies. The instinct of pugnacity is not to be 
stamped out, else we have the coward ; but is to be sublimated 
into higher forms. In this way we develop the child in such 
a way as to transform him into an adult of grit, and deter- 
mination, and courage — the man of character. 

In this process of inhibition and repression, many dan- 
gerous by-products are formed which become a canker in the 
life of the individual. This must be eliminated through 
expurgation or katharsis. This may be done chiefly through 
literature, but also through contests and games. 

Fear tends to inhibit the other impulses, while it is 
through the inhibition of the other impulses that anger has its 
rise, and when sublimated tends to reinforce them. It is the 
very same force aroused which appears in the child as anger, 
which, later, when obstacles are met, helps to overcome them. 

In dealing with the instinct of pugnacity, we should not 
seek how best to stamp it out, for this would convert the in- 
dividual into a craven wretch, but we should seek rather to 
transform this mighty psychic force into forms of energy that 
will make for force of character. 

The question as to whether boys should fight is one for 
the boys to settle, rather than parents or schools. Usually such 
matters will adjust themselves. The best corrective for the 
boy who has this tendency in superabundance is to have jus- 
tice meted out at the hands of some other boy. It is a ten- 



18 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

dency that needs no encouragement, unless it be in the boy 
who is abnormally pacific and is thereby disposed to let other 
boys impose on him. He should, by all means, be taught to 
defend himself. 

Pugnacious tendencies should be transformed to a great 
degree into tendencies of friendly rivalry. Properly trans- 
formed, these pugnacious tendencies can be made to do much 
of the world's work. 

Pugnacity, on the whole, is not growing weaker, but is 
taking on different forms. Its dynamic center is passing from 
the individual to the group. It appears wherever the impulse 
to act is thwarted, in whatever channel, whether of the indi- 
vidual or the group. 

Though the instinct of pugnacity has led to many useless 
and destructive wars between tribes and nations, and also 
between smaller groups, and even individuals, yet it has been 
a most important factor in the evolution of men and nations 
to higher planes of civic and social development. 

Out of these contests there have come higher moral and 
civic standards. In conjunction with the instinct of pugnacity 
there were other innate tendencies at work, with their general 
upward tendency. A thwarting of these tendencies would 
bring on the contest. 

Jealousy is a form of anger in which the idea of owner- 
ship is involved in connection with the property instinct or 
the sex instinct. In the evolution of the race through con- 
tests brought on by jealousy, men were disciplined to a higher 
and more effective control. As in the race, so in the child ; 
this tendency is not to be stamped out, but is to be controlled 
and raised to a higher mode of functioning. It lends strength 
to self-assertion and hence to self-respect. When it is ex- 
tended to larger and larger groups, it tends to pass over into 
altruism. 

The question for pedagogy is how to turn anger and its 
allied forms of jealousy, revenge, hatred, etc., along higher 
channels of expression, because the negative method of re- 
pression is in most cases harmful. It is a question of drafting 
them off along other channels and utilizing them as educative 
forces. 



Gross, in his Play of Animals, has shown that this tendency to 
exhibit the instinct of pugnacity in their play activities is very com- 
mon among the lower animals, as among dogs, cats, bears, raccoons, 
etc. The fighting instinct is so common in the lower animals as to 
be familiar to everyone. Ordahl, in his study of rivalry among the 
lower animals, cites many instances. Dr. Hall, in his study of anger, 
notes that it is exhibited in the child in such forms as screaming, 
stiffening, holding the breath, scratching themselves, kicking, sobbing, 
etc. He notes that age brings many changes in the manifestations of 
anger, largely through repressions and control. Impudence may be- 
come sarcasm; instead of fighting with the fists, one fights with the 
tongue. "While peevishness and irritability are less, remorse, reason, 
reflection, toleration of offences become dominant." Dr. Smith, in 
her study of "Obstinacy and Obedience" (Fed. Sem., March, 1905), 
found that anger often accompanies obstinacy. She found that this 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 19 

condition is often caused by malnutrition and hence must have physical 
treatment. She found, too, that fatigue is a frequent cause. In the 
treatment of the child, she concludes that there is danger of too many 
rules and restrictions and that more freedom is often the best remedy. 
It is best to ignore the child at such times, for this tends "to diminish 
the mental and physical tension which are characteristic of obstinacy." 
Burk has shown that the fighting instinct or instinct of pugnacity 
is manifested in the tendency to tease and bully. These tendencies, 
he thinks, are due to "broken neurological fragments, which are parts 
of old chains of activity involved in the pursuit, combat, capture, tor- 
ture, and killing of men and enemies." 

Self-regarding Instinct — Positive and Negative, — The self- 
regarding instinct is at root a social instinct. The positive 
aspect is seen to a great degree in the tendencies that function 
as demands for recognition and sympathy. The negative as- 
pect is seen in the tendencies of the individual, in part to ad- 
just himself to the demands of others, and in part is due to a 
sense of inferiority, real or imagined. The negative aspect of 
the self-regarding" instinct manifests itself in such forms as 
bashfulness, modesty, reverence, and docility. 

This instinct begins to function very early in the child's 
life — even before it is two years old. As self-consciousness 
develops, it appears in boys in the form of boasting and 
swaggering, taking dares, doing stunts, etc. In girls, it ap- 
pears in the form of boasting and vanity. 

While this instinct seems to exhibit much that is egoistic, 
it is in the main a social instinct. Its proper stimulation to 
activity depends on the presence of spectators. There must 
be a sense of superiority, in some respect, on the part of the 
individual, over the spectator, or at least an attempt to so 
impress the spectator. This on the positive side. On the 
negative side the attitude is one of inferiority in the forms of 
modesty, shame, etc. It is slightly akin to fear, but is a higher 
form. 

In response to the well known challenge, "You dare not 
do it," many a foolhardy act has been committed by boys, and 
very often by girls as well. This is an abnormal condition, 
and by proper sublimation and transformation can be made 
over into true courage. The right kind of literature can do 
much here. The boy and girl must grow into a knowledge 
of what true courage is. 

The failure to direct this tendency in right channels is a 
failure in moral training. If not properly directed, these ten- 
dencies often become criminal. 

Teachers and parents too often make the mistake in lay- 
ing down rules in such a way as to antagonize the child and 
to call forth this tendency in its abnormal and perverted as- 
pects. As few rules as possible, in both school and home. 

The functioning of the self-regarding instinct is affected 
by clothing and self adornment, making the instinct either 
positive or negative. Clothes make the child experience a 
feeling of superiority or inferiority toward his fellows. One's 
personality seems to be extended to his clothing and personal 
adornments. 



20 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

Girls are more boastful of their personal attractions — 
their native endowments as well as their dress. Boys are 
more concerned about their ability to excel in physical en- 
dowments, — in becoming leaders. These conditions, in both 
boys and girls, may become abnormal and be arrested on a 
low plane of development. These tendencies usually do not 
need much encouragement. 

In these bragging and boastful attitudes, the child is apt 
to play the false role more or less. These tendencies must be 
directed along right channels or these undesirable false atti- 
tudes will pass over into habit. Literature can do much to 
rectify these errors. Athletics and manual training should do 
much, for the reason that the individual is measured in the 
presence of his fellows as to his abilities and accomplishments; 
and he will thus grow into a correct knowledge of his true 
powers. 

Abnormal self-consciousness is an undesirable form of 
this negative self regarding instinct. One of the chief evils 
of this abnormal condition is that it tends to inhibit freedom 
of movement in speech and other bodily movements, as well 
as in normal continuity of thought. It is an enemy to spon- 
taneity. It is the opposite extreme of over-boldness. Both 
extremes are to be avoided. 

Blame and ridicule are. to sensitive natures, fearful things. 
Praise used judiciously is a mighty force in the hands of a 
wise teacher. 

It is a question whether over-timid and nervous children 
should be forced to appear on public occasions to recite pieces 
or take part in plays. The instinct of curiosity is able, usually, 
to counteract the negative self-feeling of bashfulness and 
timidity. 

In young children this instinct of shyness and bashfulness 
manifests itself in crying, hiding, and covering the face. A 
little later the child avoids strangers by running away. Dur- 
ing adolescence, especially during the early period, a tendency 
of shyness and bashfulness shows itself in the impulse for 
the individual to avoid members of the opposite sex, especially 
those about the same age. This tendency is stronger in boys 
than it is in girls. 

One of the very strong factors in determining and mold- 
ing one's conduct is the regard in which one is held by his 
fellows. This is especially strong when one is in an attitude 
of negative self-feeling toward his fellows. 

During the period of childhood the individual does not 
show much of a sense of shame, which is a phase of self-abase- 
ment. 

To attempt to force the functioning of this instinct is apt 
to cause arrested development in the form of prudishness or 
moral morbidity. Morals should, at this stage, be taught in- 
directly through the story ; and also by example. 

Watching a child often accentuates his condition of self- 
feeling or self-consciousness. The teacher should acquire the 
art of knowing what the child is doing, without seeming to 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 21 

watch him. This refers especially to timid children. One of 
the gravest errors committed by teachers is that, in their treat- 
ment of children they are continually inhibiting their spon- 
taneous activities. 

During the period in which the dramatic aspect or instinct 
of imitation is strong, the child, in his play activities, delights 
to assume the role of another person, either in name or dress, 
or in both. This is perfectly normal and wholesome as long 
as the play instinct is active, but when it is taken into real 
life it then becomes a false attitude and becomes positively 
dangerous. As long as it acts in the realm of the play impulse 
it assists very materially in extending the child's personality 
and also enlarging it. Spontaneous variation and natural 
selection are at work. In this way the best tendencies of the 
child predominate and become permanent elements in his 
character. 

As the individual grows there is a general expansion of 
his whole nature. New tendencies are constantly coming into 
function. As a result there is a constant swinging to and fro 
between the two extremes of the positive self-feelings and the 
negative self-feelings, due, on the one hand, to this upward 
and outward push, and on the other to the hesitation and fear 
of trying the unknown ; but through the exercise of these 
varied tendencies, the self, through its reactions to its environ- 
ment, chooses out those tendencies that will best adapt it to 
its environment. 

The true object in educating the self-regarding tendencies 
should be to keep the balance true between them, otherwise 
we have an abnormal product. 

The self-regarding instinct, in both its positive and negative as- 
pects, is seen in many of the lower animals. This in the broader 
sense of the term as used by McDougall, and not to include self-con- 
sciousness. When a large dog meets a small dog, we often see both 
aspects of this instinct exhibited — the positive in the dignified and 
seemingly superior behavior of the large dog; the negative in the meek 
and seemingly submissive behavior of the small dog. Again we see 
the positive aspect displayed in many animals, especially at mating 
time. At this time they show off their charms to the best advantage. 
We see the negative aspect in the behavior of the dog toward his 
master. 

Drs. Hall and Smith made a studj' of the self-regarding instinct 
under the heading, "Showing Off and Bashfulness." From their re- 
turns they found results as follows: "Love of praise and fear of 
reproach are both powerful incentives in the childish mind and though 
an execss of either may prove a dwarfing or preventing influence, they 
are natural stimuli for growth." They found that consciousness of 
clothes, especially in girls, developed very early. Girls tend to be- 
come vain. Affectations in speech appear early, due largely to imita- 
tion of their elders. It was found that there was a noticeable dif- 
ference between boys and girls in showing off along the lines of motor 
activities. Boys delight in feats of physical strength and skill. There 
is more the element of affectation in what the girl does. They found 
no specific differences between boys and girls in the matter of taking 
dares. Quite common. Due largely to wrong standards of moral 
courage. Boys brag most of what they can do; girls of what they 
possess. Bashfulness more common in girls than in boys. This 
condition reversed toward adolescence. Blushing more frequent in 
girls; awkwardness and aphasic manifestations more frequent in boys. 



22 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

Instinct of Rivalry. — Rivalry has a most important place in 
education. It is a social leveler. It fosters democratic prin- 
ciples. It compels the individual to play his true role. It 
makes for honesty. In the form of competition it is diametri- 
cally opposed to the principle of special privileges as is seen 
in commerce and politics, as well as in any other field of hu- 
man action. If our schools would follow the child's innate 
tendencies, which properly developed make for the best train- 
ing for life, they must not neglect the instinctive tendency of 
rivalry. 

Rivalry or emulation tends to supplant pugnacity, both in 
the individual and in the group. In fact, it may be considered 
a modified form of pugnacity as it is also a modified form of 
self-assertion, or the positive self-regarding instinct. With 
reference to overstimulation, caution should be exercised with 
the child, but with the juvenile it is different. The individual 
at this age is capable of much greater effort. Struggle and 
competition seem to be the very life of the juvenile. 

Though rivalry is a social instinct, it acts, to a great extent, 
in opposition to gregariousness and tends to put a check on 
the evil tendencies of gregariousness, just as gregariousness, 
on the other hand, tends to check the evil tendencies of rivalry. 
Properly counterpoised, they tend to keep the moral balance 
true. 

Ordahl maintains that rivalry should be confined chiefly to 
the field of action. "Elsewhere," he says, "it should be looked 
upon with suspicion." 

Rivalry in moderation is a wholesome stimulus to efficient 
work and progress in school, but overdone, it leads to over- 
stimulation and inhibitions that retard normal progress, as has 
been shown by experiment. 

Many educators would substitute self-rivalry for this 
rivalry with others. In self-rivalry the pupil measures his 
present efforts with his past efforts. 

It would seem that each is complementary to the other, 
and therefore one cannot be substituted for the other. 

Bound up with this question of rivalry is the question of 
prizes and rewards. There are those who would do away with 
the system of prizes and rewards, but, without question, they 
have their place. It will depend on the age of the pupil. They 
appeal especially to the younger pupils. 

With reference to the "genetic sequence in the develop- 
ment" of rivalry, Ordahl has the following to say : "The first 
phenomenon that can be regarded as rivalry is the struggle for 
food. The child gradually reacts more definitely to comfort 
and discomfort stimuli ; the emotional expressions which ac- 
company such reactions are indicative of jealousy. Closely 
following this development is that of contrary suggestion, 
i. e., the child opposes all suggestion, whether pleasant or un- 
pleasant. Another role following is that in which the sense 
of self comes out strongly. The child is ambitious for display 
of his personal qualities. This leads to a general comparison 
with his fellows, and together with added interests in external 
objects, develops an increased interest in competition. With 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 23 

the beginning of adolescence we have incipient the final stage 
in the development of rivalry, viz., a large tendency to struggle 
in the whole environment for superiority. This struggle may 
be of a low or high order of morality, but mere supremacy is 
not its chief characteristic. In the latter, the struggle is char- 
acterized by a desire to down a companion, in the former the 
individual wishes to demonstrate the superiority of his attri- 
butes and qualities as greater or larger than those of any 
others ; it is not mere mastery. And the element of self-emula- 
tion is probably present in all striving." 

Emulation may be considered a higher form of rivalry. It 
is the impulse to excel, to lord it over others, or to be a leader. 

Rivalry had its origin, no doubt, in the struggle for food 
and shelter, and in the struggle to obtain or win a mate. This 
we may observe in the loAver animals. It is seen to be most 
active in the gregarious animals. In the struggle for food, the 
instinct is chiefly defensive, while in the struggle for a mate 
it is usually oflFensive. 

A difiference between rivalry and pugnacity is that in ri- 
valry the contest usually ends when supremacy is attained, 
while in pugnacity the object is usually either thoroughly to 
subdue the opponent or to destroy him. This is true among 
the lower animals and was no doubt true of primitive man. 

The self-regarding instinct, in its self-assertive or positive 
aspect, passes over into a special form, of instinct called rivalry 
for leadership. The instinct for leadership is clearly displayed 
among the higher animals. It differs from food and sex ri- 
valry in that its object is for supremacy, apparently for its 
own sake. This is especially true of gregarious animals of 
the higher orders. 

Ordahl thinks that jealousy is a feeling caused by the in- 
hibition of the instinctive tendency or impulse when one's place 
of supremacy is invaded. It is evident that it is related to this 
aspect of the instinct of rivalry. It is closely related to the 
instinct of pugnacity as expressed in the accompanying emo- 
tion of anger. A tendency is interfered with. Jealousy is a 
form of anger. 

During childhood the instinct of rivalry has its basis in 
the egoistic tendencies, but with the ushering in of adolescence 
the tendencv is not so much one of personal supremacy or 
aggrandizement as it is to know one's place in his social envi- 
ronment. And, too. with the ushering in of adolescence there 
appear many new tendencies whose function seems to be to 
expand and enlarge the soul. Some of these take on the form 
of reveries and day-dreams. In these the leadership aspect of 
rivalry plays an important role. In these dreams and reverie* 
the adolescent sees himself victorious in life's contests and 
himself become a great leader, not bv mig'ht but because of 
his superior powers of leadership. Through these tendencies 
he builds for himself ideals which have much to do in building 
character, through the activity to which they lead. 

Ordahl found, in his study of rivalry, that it is a very common 
instinct in the lower animals. They display this tendency toward 



24 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

members of their own kind. At the trough the leader drinks first; 
when fed, the horse throws out warning gestures, observes Ordahl. 
He found a very common kind to be that for leadership, especially 
among domestic and wild animals that are gregarious. He concludes 
that food and sex are at the basis of this instinct in the lower animals. 

With reference to this instinct in the child, he found that in its 
earlier years badges and visible rewards appealed to it; that during 
these early years there is danger of over-stimulation, but that the 
pre-adolescent is capable of greater effort and hence not so much 
danger from over-stimulation. He urges that the adolescent be given 
material "dealing with great events and achievements of worthy 
individuals" to feed the impulse of superiority and the hunger for 
greatness. 

From the data examined, Ordahl concludes that there is a genetic 
sequence in the development. First is the struggle for food. Closely 
following is that of contrary suggestion. A little later the sense of 
Self becomes prominent — an ambition to display personal qualities. 
Then follows a comparison with his fellows, which evolves into a 
spirit of competition. And finally in the adolescent is a tendency to 
struggle for mastery in many directions — in the whole environment, 
not necessarily to down a companion, as was the earlier tendency, 
but to show himself superior to all others, with a large degree of self- 
emulation. 

Instinct of Imitation. — The innate tendency that has most 
to do with adapting the child to his environment is the instinct 
of imitation. It is through this instinct, chiefly, that he grad- 
ually may come into the rich heritage of the culture of the 
past. The imitative act when first performed by the child, es- 
pecially in its early years, may have little or no mental content, 
but in the performance of the act, motor imagery is built up 
and thus the act gets mental content. 

The tendencv to imitate begins to function very earlv in 
life — as early at least as the second six months of the child's 

life. Its earliest forms are low in the scale of mental reactions. 
The term reflex could rightly be applied to many of these re- 
actions. 

Though the child's reactions to his environment in the 
mimetic sense are at first largely reflex and spontaneous, they 
gradually come to have mental content. That is, as he re- 
peats these acts, he comes to know hoAv it feels to act in such 
a way. The next higher form of imitation to function after the 
simple reflex form, is the spontaneous form. This is nascent 
during the latter part of the period of infancv and the early 
part of the period of childhood, perhaps to about the fourth 
year. After this it is no longer dominant, but is gradually su- 
perseded by higher forms of imitation. 

Though these two simpler forms of imitation are sup- 
planted by higher forms, so far as their dominance is concerned, 
yet they persist through life, especially certain aspects of the 
reflex forms. The child reflects the moods and subtle in- 
fluences of his environment more than we suspect. "As is the 
teacher, so is the school," is a condition that has its basis in 
this reflex tendency of imitation. In this manner of function- 
ing this tendency continues active throughout life. It is to 
be reckoned with in the control of the child. 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 25 

Spontaneous imitation is the chief means through which 
spontaneous variation functions. In fact, the tendency to 
spontaneous imitation is a phase of spontaneous variation. 
Through it the child acquires a vast amount of knowledge, as 
well as a great variety of tendencies to act. Broad founda- 
tions are thus laid for his future mental growth and develop- 
ment. 

In the earlier stages of spontaneous imitation, the act of 
imitating takes place immediately after the occurrence of the 
act imitated, but as memory develops the intervening time 
between the act of imitation and the act imitated grows greater 
and greater till the act of imitation may occur the day follow- 
ing the occurrence of the act imitated, or it may be several 
days afterwards. Thus, mental images, instead of objects of 
sense, become the stimuli. In this way imitation evolves into 
higher forms of functioning. 

In spontaneous imitation the child is not conscious of 
the act as such, but in conjunction with the self-regarding 
instinct many of his acts of imitation become conscious and 
voluntary. He studies the imitative act and tries to make it 
conform to the demands or wishes of others. It begins to 
function and develops parallel with self-consciousness. For 
education it is one of the most important tendencies. It is a 
tendency that must be reckoned with, more or less to puberty. 
Based on this tendency, one might lay down this principle: 
"Don't tell the child how to do the thing, but rather show him 
how to do it." It is on this account that example counts for 
so much with the child in his moral development. Directions 
and rules have very little place in the education of the child. 
Through the development of voluntary imitation, the will is 
developed and hence character. 

In the matter of character building, another aspect of 
imitation appears in which ideals are imitated. Here, again, 
imitation acts in close conjunction with the self-regarding in- 
stinct. The ideals of childhood are built up in the child 
through being accepted by him, because they bear the stamp 
of approval of those in whose good opinion he wishes to stand, 
and in whom he has confidence. 

For his ideals, the child draws very heavily on literature. 
In fairy tale and myth and tales of adventure, the heroes and 
heroines have much to do in the matter of ideal making. Char- 
acters of history are important. In literature and history the 
child is prone to accept those characters as ideals that have 
the stamp of approval of others. His discriminating judgment 
is not sufficiently developed to set up standards on his own 
account. tXater, in the adolescent period, when the discrimi- 
nating judgment is better developed, the individual begins to 
set up standards of his own. And, too, his interest begins 
now to center more and more in persons older than himself — 
he is interested now in adults, while formerly, in the juvenile 
period, his interest was more in those of his own age. 

The instinct of imitation enters largely into the learning 
process of the pupil. This instinct, in conjunction with the 



26 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

innate tendencies to construct and express, has much to do 
with learning to write and draw. In conjunction with the 
tendency to expression, it enters very largely into the child's 
learning his native tongue, as well as the learning of other 
languages. 

In order to teach fluency of speech and also ease in writ- 
ten composition, the child should hear good language, and 
especially should he be saturated with the best literature. Few 
children are fortunate enough always to hear choice English. 
To make up for this defect, it is necessary that the child be 
saturated with the best literature. In his composition work 
he will at first imitate the style of the authors studied ; but will 
gradually acquire a style of his own. All of our great literary 
geniuses have passed through the imitative stage, as is well 
known. It is through imitation along whatever line that the 
individual finds himself. It is because, through imitation, he 
exercises a wide range of tendencies, and synthetizes these 
into new possibilities. 

This instinct is found in many species of animals below man. 
Kinnam.an found that monkeys imitate each other's actions. It has 
been found by experiment that a pfreat degree of perfection is added 
to the song of the young bird by imitating older birds, which perfec- 
tion was not attained v^rhen the voung bird was not allowed to hear 
the song of the older bird. Dr. Porter found imitation quite common 
in the birds with which he experim.ented. 

- The instinct of imitation appears in children as early as the 
fifth month, as was found by Dr. Porter in experiments on his own 
child of ttiat age. Mrs. Burk made a study of imitation (Ped. Sem., 
April, 1897), based on E. H. Ru'^sel's observations, and worked out 
the following conclusions: Children imitate adults more than thev 
do children and the lower animals. This tendency increases with 
his years. She found three kinds of imitation, direct imitation, play- 
ing, and imitation with a conscious purpose. The first is the more 
unconscious form, the second the dramatic, as in play. The third 
is self-f'xplanatory. The fi.rst decreases and the second increases with 
age. She found that the imitation of the idea increases and the imi- 
tation of the actual thing decreases with a<?e. and finallv that in the 
early years there is a preponderance of imitation of action over that 
of spf'ech. Shp appends some pedagogical suggestions: "(a) The 
natural tendencies of children indicate that adaptations of adult oc- 
cupations furnish healthy material for part of the activity of the 
kindergarten, (b) From the age of four or five years considerable 
olay should be given to the free developm.ent of children in connec- 
tion with their social instincts, (c) Tn the early years of life action 
should be given a prominent place. The formal teaching of language 
shouM be =ubo'-dinate. Verbal expression should be developed spon- 
taneously in connection with action." 

Dramatic Instinct. — A closelv related form of spontaneous 
imitation is the dramatic instinct. This tendency begins to 
function during the third year and is nascent from four to 
seven, but continues active, more or less, throughout life. 
Dramatic imitation is ordinary, spontaneous imitation plus the 
imaginative element. It is the make-believe, play-form of 
imitation. Throusfh it. there is very little that takes place in 
his environment that the child does not perform in his make- 
believe manner. He thus lays hold of these things in an ex- 
periential way and in this m.anner makes them a part of 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 27 

himself. Spontaneous variation has an opportunity to func- 
tion, and thus the child's individuality expands and grows 
apace. 

This is a tendency that could be utilized much more than 
it now is. Much more of the work in literature and history 
should be acted out or dramatized. tPhe dramatic instinct is 
one of the chief avenues of approach to the child, in teaching 
it literature and history. ^ This work should retain its spon- 
taneous element to be most productive of good to the child. 
It should never be allowed to drop down to the level of a drill 
exercise. The purpose should not be to develop dramatic 
talent, which is quite another thing from dramatic instinct. 
Dramatic instinct belongs to every child. This we cannot say 
of dramatic talent. The purpose of exercising the dramatic 
impulse is to deepen impression through expression. Such 
procedure arouses and broadens his sympathies. 

In the process of adjustment of the individaul to his en- 
vironment, many native impulses are inhibited and repressed. 
Such repressions disturb the psychic balance. Many of these 
tendencies which have been thus repressed were once neces- 
sary, in the earlier history of the race, for their survival value, 
such as stealing or killing. Away down deep in the race soul 
there are these tendencies which may function in a harmless 
way in these make-believe performances of the dramatic im- 
pulse. Let the boy impersonate the villain in his work in 
dramatics and thus through this play activity he will be vac- 
cinated against ever actually becoming a villain. His soul 
will be purged of these evil tendencies and thus will a katharsis 
be worked in him. On the other hand, the boy or girl who 
impersonates the admirable character will assimilate some- 
thing enobling from such characters. 

Miss Herts made a study of the dramatic work in the public 
schools of New York and Brooklj-^n. This she reports, with criticisms, 
in the Ped. Sem., December, 1908, p. 552. She found the pupils "act- 
ing out" various scenes from history, as Braddock's defeat, signing 
the Declaration of Independence, the discovery of America by Colum- 
bus, etc. She found the children very much interested, but felt that 
the mistake was on the part of the teacher. In all the rooms visited 
she felt that the teacher had the wrong point of view, and hence placed 
the emphasis in the wrong place. She says: "In all the school 
rooms observed, the principle had been grasped by those in authority 
that the fact acted out is the fact remembered, and that in 'acting' 
the lessons the children unconsciously lent their fullest co-operation 
with the work of learning in hand. The psychological principle 
* * * operates more widely than for the mere attaching of the 
interest and memory to fact. The object of dramatized lessons is 
to create in the unexpressive child through the cultivation of its 
imagination in relation to the assumed part, a something which did 
not previousljr exist for that child." She goes on to say that instead 
of doing this the teacher appeals "to the dramatic talent of the 
naturally expressive child to elaborate a something that already 
existed." Miss Herts distinguishes between dramatic instinct and 
dramatic talent as follows: "Dramatic instinct is a significant factor 
in the life of every individual, connecting and welding the individual 
with communal life, and the human with the universal. Dramatic 
talent, on the one hand, is a special, uncommon gift bestowed upon 
the_ limited few. Dramatic instinct, on the other hand, is the common 
heritage of every child." She maintains that the work should be 



28 • INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

assigned without reference to the child's natural aptitude to act out 
the part, thus developing dramatic instinct instead of dramatic talent. 

Gregarious Instinct. — The gregarious tendency or instinct 
makes up much of the so-called social instincts. The social 
tendency is more comprehensive than the gregarious tendency, 
since it includes phases of other instincts or tendencies, as, for 
example, sympathy, which is a form of the imitative instinct ; 
love of approbation, which is a form of the self-regarding in- 
stinct. These two tendencies often act in conjunction with 
the gregarious instinct, but are not essential to its function- 
ing. We find the gregarious instinct manifested more often 
in its pure form among the lower animals than we do in human 
beings. It no doubt had its origin in the mutual protection 
it afforded — and hence survival value — to those individuals 
that exercised such tendencies. 

The helpless condition of the human infant calls forth 
this tendency very early. It is functioning as soon as the child 
shows a tendency not to want to be left alone, though it is best 
manifested when the child begins to take delight in being with 
other children, especially those of his own age — the mere joy 
of association. 

All through childhood its play aspect is manifested more 
or less, but becomes especialh'- active later in the juvenile 
period, when the child begins to participate actively in co- 
operative and group games. 

This instinct is manifested in later childhood and early 
adolescence, especially in boys' games; also in the chumming 
of girls. Many lawless tendencies develop from the gregarious 
instinct of boys, as it is manifested in their gangs. While this 
condition should give the parent and teacher some concern, 
especially to allow these tendencies to function along legiti- 
mate channels, and not to try to stamp them out, yet I believe 
there is a tendency to magnify the evils resulting from such 
tendencies. Plays and games adapted to this period should 
be provided. Organizations should be encouraged. In this 
way these forces can be turned to good account. Camping- 
expeditions are good. A great deal of this can be handled 
through organizations. Literature, in which these tendencies 
are manifested, as stories of hunting and camping expeditions, 
and tales of adventure, should be wisely chosen and given. 

While it is necessary for children to associate with those 
older than themselves, especially in the productive functioning 
of the imitative instinct, yet so far as the gregarious instinct 
is concerned, it is more necessary that the child associate with 
those more nearly his own age. In this way only can he learn 
the give-and-take principle of life. In this way he comes to 
a clearer conception of his own true worth and true relation- 
ship toward his fellows. He learns some of his first lessons 
of self control. Through the functioning of this instinct, 
the individual tends to pass from egoism to altruism. The 
associations that the child enjoys in our graded public schools 
are very helpful in the right functioning of this instinct. 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 29 

The gregarious instinct is so pronounced among many of the 
lower animals that such animals are referred to as gregarious. More 
specifically, we have a long list of collective nouns referring to such 
groups of animals, as herd, flock, swarm, colony, etc. 

In the child such aspects of this tendency have been studied as 
gangs, clubs, chums, etc. Puffer, in his study of Boys' Gangs (Ped. 
Sem., June, 1905), concludes that the gang has its origin in the follow- 
ing instinctive tendencies: "social instinct, feelings of dependency, the 
instinct of activity or workmanship, the combative instinct, the instinct 
to roam, the instinct to learn, the love of excitement, and the preda- 
tory instinct." He concludes that the gang cultivates a democratic 
spirit, courage, rudimentary elements of justice, subordination of 
oneself to the crowd, fidelity and loyalty, virtue of obedience to a 
leader. He found further that the gang does not develop chastity, 
but the opposite. It tends also to break home ties, but he concludes 
that the good cultivated far outweighs the bad. 

Bonser, in his study of Chums (Ped. Sem., June, 1902), arrived 
at the following conclusions: At one time in its earlier years the 
child forms an intimate friendship with another which is permanent in 
a large percentage of cases. Conditions of environment have a larger 
place in determining such friendships than temperamental affinity 
or conscious selection. The constant associations of chums develop 
the social qualities, provide for the satisfaction of transient race in- 
stincts, materially aid in the cultivation of self-reliance, individuality, 
and altruism. Finally, that. this close contact and sympathy have a 
profound influence on life and character, especially fitting the indi- 
vidual to become a unit in the social whole. 

Migratory Instinct. — It is quite likely that the migratory 
impulse evolved in our forbears through the need of environ- 
mental adjustment as to food, shelter, safety from the enemy, 
seasonal adjustment, also sex. These tendencies persist and 
appear in various forms in the growing child. In the home 
and school this group of tendencies appear in the impulse to 
run away and truancy. It first appears in early childhood in 
the tendency to run away — sometimes in a very persistent 
form. In general, it seems to have its origin in a feeling of 
discontent — a lack of harmony with the environment. It is 
accompanied by a desire for greater freedom. A desire to be 
out of doors ; to breathe the free air. It may take on the form 
of revery and day-dreaming. 

This impulse is stronger at certain seasons of the year 
than it is at others, especially in the spring. As is Avell known, 
there are more cases of truancy in the spring than there are at 
any other season of the year, perhaps due to psycho-physio- 
logical disturbances, which bring on spring-fever, day dream- 
ing, and a general feeling of unrest. These are the conditions 
that cause the home and school much concern. Truancy is 
such a common misdemeanor that in most schools a truant 
officer is employed. In this way teachers and school officers 
seem satisfied that they are handling the evil of truancy in a 
successful manner, but while they may compel the boy, in 
body, to be present, yet in mind he is, m most cases, far away. 
This mental truancy in school is far more common than we 
think. It is caused by the same impulse that causes him to 
run, or stay away from school. This languid, inattentive con- 
dition does not indicate that the pupil has no interest in 
anything. If the child's native impulses would lead him to the 
"vernal wood," then there should the teacher go with him. 



30 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

because then can the "vernal wood" teach him more than all 
the sages can. Much can be done in nature study and nature 
poetry and prose at this season of the year, when the child is 
especially nature-tropic. Literature that is in tune with the 
dreamy, springtime moods of the pupil, should be given if we 
follow his native interests. 

In dealing with these race tendencies, there is so much in 
our schools that is unnatural that at all seasons of the year a 
sort of shut-up or caged-in feeling pervades the school, more 
or less. When the pupil begins to feel this pressure, then 
this migratory impulse seizes him and if he cannot wander in 
body he will in mind. These tendencies can be avoided in a 
great measure by shortening the study periods, making more 
frequent and longer the periods for rest and recreation. Man- 
ual training will do much to work off this feeling of discontent 
and elsewhereness. In other v\^ords, the migratory impulse 
can be made to function vicariously through the constructive 
instinct. During the latter part of the pre-adolescent period 
and the early part of the adolescent period, this migratory 
instinct is strong, and is manifested in the tendency to play 
truant and to run away from home. In addition to the rem- 
edies suggested above, much may be done through literature 
properly to purgate the evil tendencies of this instinct. Such 
stories as Robinson Crusoe are wholesome, in which the boy, 
in his imagination, can run away from home and with his 
hero must endure the hardships along with the pleasures of 
such an expedition. Such stories will usually vaccinate him 
against actually running away from home. 

Love of home is a tendency that counteracts or neutralizes 
this migratory impulse. Whatever will tend to develop in 
the individual a love for home, together with its environments, 
as woods and streams and fields and hills and neighboring 
town or city, will tend to overcome this impulse to wander. 

It should not be the aim of education to crush out entirely 
this migratory instinct, but, on the other hand, it should not 
be ;illowed to become arrested on a low plane of development, 
else we shall have the vagrant, the tramp, the hobo, or at least 
the person who is a chronic victim of discontent, and as a 
result is continually moving about from place to place. On 
the other hand, the opposite tendency, the love of home, may 
also become an arrested tendency, and we shall then have the 
person who never goes awa)^ from home of his ov/n choice, and 
if he is compelled to be away from home even for a short time 
he is very unhappy. The normal person should have these 
opposing tendencies so developed in him that he will enjoy 
travel, but will want a fixed abode which he will delight to 
call home. 

The migratory instinct is to be noted especially in such lower 
animals as birds and fishes in their seasonal migrations. K.line main- 
tains that this feeling to go elsewhere is due to physiological changes 
brought on by food and temperature changes. In relation to seas^onal 
changes, the sex and breeding impulses are affected in such a way as 
to cause the migratory impulse to function. This is seen in the 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 31 

migrations of the salmon from salt to fresh water during the egg- 
laying and breeding season. 

Kline made a study of "Truancy as Related to the Migratory 
Instinct" (Fed. Sem., January, 1898), in which he draws some valuable 
conclusions. Between the ages of one and three or four he found 
that running away is very common. "It is impulsive, aimless, wholly 
unconscious of attendant circumstances, such as bodily danger, anxiety 
and worry to parents." Often delight to run further when pursued. 
During the period from four to seven he found the causes to be 
various, "fondness for new places, new sights, strange people, desire 
to do new things not supervised by elders, make new acquaintance 
with man, beast, plant and earth, to explore new places and experience 
the unexpected. There is no special interest in any one place or 
thing, but it is all places and all objects. Anything will set them 
agoing, a stranger or loud-dressed persons, a peddler, a tramp, a 
crowd, a team, a band, a procession." He found the conditions dur- 
ing the period from eight to twelve as follows: "An inordinate love 
for certain pleasures; impatient of restricted liberty; inferior home 
comforts; injured feelings and anger; desire to earn their own money." 
Kline found, on the other hand, that the tendency to run away often 
ceased at the beginning of this period, "owing to a new interest in 
home and society." 

Instinct of Curiosity. — The most varied of all the innate 
tendencies in its functioning is the instinct of curiosity. It 
begins to function as soon as the child begins to give attention, 
and continues to function throughout life. It is conditioned 
at all times by the tendencies both innate and acquired, and 
conditions at all times the individual interests. It is that 
impulse that makes the child aggressive to come into closer 
relationship with his environment. It keeps the mind in a 
constant state of apperception. It is through the instinct of 
curiosity that the individual is led to the continuous assimila- 
tion of his environment. It seems to be the instinct whose 
function it is to make sure that the individual enters into pos- 
session of the inheritance bequeathed to him by the race. 

The instinct of curiosity attends the proper functioning of 
all those innate tendencies that have to do with the learning 
process. If these innate tendencies are properly stimulated 
during their nascent periods, then is the instinct of curiosity 
ever present to add zest and vigor to the right functioning of 
these processes. 

Curiosity is most active when there is a certain degree of 
the novel or unfamiliar in the objects stimulating this im- 
pulse. This augments the feeling element, and hence the 
interest. 

The instinct of curiosity acts in opposition to the instinct 
of flight. In the former there is the impulse to approach and 
examine that which is unfamiliar, while in the latter there is 
the impulse to flee away from the unfamiliar. 

To excite curiosity, there must be also a certain degree of 
the familiar. That which at first excites fear may, as it be- 
comes more familiar, begin to excite curiosity. The instincts 
of curiosity and fear alternate in rapid succession in the young 
child, but in adults they usually act simultaneously. 

Folk literature is rich in matter appealing to these in- 
stincts. The soul of the child is delighted with this literature 
which causes these instinctive emotions to function in a harm- 



32 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

less way, thus working a katharsis of the emotions of fear. 
To this psychic effervescence is due much of the charm of 
such literature. This, in part, prevents fear from being- ar- 
rested on a lower plane of development, and raises wonder to 
a higher plane of functioning. 

The relationship established between the individual and 
the object to which the impulse of curiosity leads him, gives 
rise to a feeling called interest. This may be only temporary 
or it may become a permanent feeling-state. 

The child's questions indicate the direction of his impulse 
of curiosity. At first the child's curiosity leads him to the 
effort to get new sense experiences. Later, when he has 
learned to talk, he wants to know the names of things. Later 
he wishes to know the use of objects. Following this he be- 
gins to ask concerning the cause of things. This may occur as 
early as the third or fourth year. Motion and color and sound 
are strong stimuli to incite the impulse of curiosity. 

The child's animistic tendencies make him curious about 
nature from the mythopoeic standpoint. Scientific curiosity 
is not yet for him. Later, when he is well started on the 
juvenile period, his animistic tendencies have faded out so 
much that he is interested in nature more from the natural 
history point of view. This is the direction in which his 
curiosity leads him. This attitude continues well into adoles- 
cence and gradually becomes formally scientific. 

In the field of history the child's curiosity leads him to 
an interest in this subject in the form of the story. During 
the juvenile period this curiosity is more in men, especially 
the hero ; hence history, in the form of biography, is the phase 
that appeals to him. 

The child's curiosity in the phenomena of his environ- 
ment, should be the point of contact in teaching him geog- 
raphy. This includes the juvenile period and early adoles- 
cence. 

The impulse of curiosity that leads the individual to 
take things apart to find out how they are made should lead to 
the proper functioning of the constructive instinct. On this 
should be based the work in manual training and related work, 
as discussed under the constructive instinct. 

At eight or nine, curiosity in questions of sex begins to 
function. This does not seem to form an exception to the 
general principle that when the child becomes curious about 
things — that is, begins to ask questions — that then is the 
time ripe to begin to teach him at least something about such 
things. In matters of sex this is difficult, but the difficulty 
must be met by parents and teachers. This curiosity will be 
satisfied in some way, and it better come from parents and 
teachers than from questionable sources. 

Throughout childhood, imitation and play supplement the 
work of curiosity, especially where the thing in which the 
pupil becomes interested is of such nature that it can be imi- 
tated or acted out in play. 

As regards curiosity during the period of adolescence, it 
may be said that the individual's interests are so varied and 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 33 

all-encompassing that there is scarcely an aspect of human 
culture into which his instinct of curiosity does not lead him 
to make excursions. 

Curiosity is found in many animals below man. It is especially 
strong in the monkey. Groos says that "next to the child the monkey 
is the most curious of animals." Groos maintains that the dog's 
curiosity is what makes hirn valuable as a watch dog. Dr. Porter, in 
his study, "Intelligence and Imitation in Birds" (American Journal of 
Psychology, January, 1910), found that the sparrow is more curious 
than is the cowbird or the pigeon. 

The following facts are drawn from the study of "Curiosity and 
Interest" (Ped. Sem., September, 1903), by Drs. Hall and Smith. 
They found that the first act of attention occurs sometime during the 
second week. This is only momentary. The next step occurs about 
the fourth or fifth week, when the baby actively directs its attention 
toward an object, especially one that is bright or moving. The audi- 
tory develops along with sight. The stage of active experimenting 
occurs during the second half of the first year. They found that the 
questioning phase of curiosity developed along with language. These 
questions they classified under the following heads: (a) forces of 
nature; (b) mechanical forces; (c) origin of life; (d) theology and 
bible stories; (e) death and heaven; (f) questions which are merely 
inquisitive. Twice as many boys as girls were interested in mechanics 
and the interest is shown early. Questions relating to the origin of 
life were asked chiefly by children between three and eight. Closely 
connected with these questions were those pertaining to religion. The 
child's attitude toward death during this time was found to be 
largely that of curiosity. Between four and eight the child is de- 
structively curious, ioys are usually the objects destroyed. During 
the adolescent period, the desire to travel is strong. This desire sel- 
dom appears before ten. This desire is usually initiated by the 
reading of books or by stories told by friends who have traveled. 

Hunting Instinct. — Closely related to the fighting and 
collecting instincts is the hunting instinct. It had its origin 
chiefly in the struggle for food in which fighting was almost 
always involved. It is manifested in the primitive tendencies 
to hunt down and kill an enemy. One of its prominent aspects 
is to destroy life — to kill. It is also manifest in the tendency 
to plunder and steal. Here, it is closely related to the collect- 
ing instinct. 

It might seem strange that these primitive tendencies 
should concern us in the education of the child were it not that 
they appear in his life in various forms and with much vigor. 
It is more common than we think. In conjunction with the 
migratory instinct, it causes the boy to run away from home 
or school, to go fishing or hunting. It is that tendency that 
impels the boy to rob and destroy birds' nests. That causes 
him to catch and pull off the legs and wings of insects. In 
conjunction with the gregarious and collecting instincts, it 
leads him to join the gang and to go out on plundering and 
stealing expeditions into neighbors' fields and orchards. It is 
that primitive tendency in boys, when in camp, that makes the 
chicken, stolen from a neighboring hen-roost, taste much bet- 
ter than the one brought from home. Many a boy has fetched 
up in juvenile court because of the lawless functioning of this 
tendency. Not that the boy is really bad, but it is a case of 
misdirected energy. While these tendencies should be di- 
rected along more legitimate channels and curbed here and 



34 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

there, yet I believe parents and teachers and officers take boys 
a little too seriously with reference to the acts committed as a 
result of the functioning of this tendency. Few men there are 
who have not indulged this tendency, more or less. In order 
that the boy be best fitted to become a member of a civilized 
community, he must, in a certain measure, travel the road over 
which the race in its evolution has come, by recapitulating in 
mild form some of the traits of his savage forebears. If the 
principle that a little evil indulged in will vaccinate against the 
committing of greater evils in the future, it surely is true here. 
Therefore, let us not take boys too seriously, or we may run 
the risk of causing arrested development in their moral educa- 
tion. We must not nip those things in the bud that will grow 
into virility and rugged manhood. 

The question that we are specially concerned with here is, 
"How can the interests arising from the functioning of this 
instinct be utilized in the education of the child?" 

Let us note first that this instinct finds expression, in a 
great measure, in its play aspect as is seen in such games as 
tag, hide and seek, hurling and throwing. Such games should 
be provided for and encouraged. In this way these tendencies 
will be drafted off along legitimate channels, and will be trans- 
muted into physical and mental well-being. The hunting 
instinct takes the child afield. This furnishes the point of 
contact to lead the child to an interest in nature. The skilful 
teacher should be able to change the child's attitude of desiring 
to destroy animal life about him into a sympathetic interest. 
Such an interest, for example, would lead him not only to spare 
the bird's nest instead of robbing and destroying it, but to take 
an active interest in protecting it. The plea here is not to 
spare animal life indiscriminately, but to counteract the in- 
discriminate destruction of life. The practical outcome of this 
work in nature study is to lead the child and adolescent to 
love and protect the life about him that is harmless and help- 
ful to man, and to turn his tendency to destroy upon the life 
that is harmful. He should, by all means, be allowed to fish 
and hunt. It is quite likely to happen that if the child is 
taught to save life without discrimination, because of the 
moral lessons involved, he is in danger of becoming a victim of 
arrested development in his moral development. Such a pro- 
cedure in moral training defeats its own purpose. 

In the grammar grades and high school, many valuable 
lessons can be taught and permanent interests established in 
civic biology through the proper utilization of the native 
interests arising from the functioning of the hunting instinct. 

It has been shown by Groos that the hunting instinct appears 
very early in many of the higher forms of animal life in the form of 
play and later becomes a serious form of animal activity. The kitten 
chases an object, as a ball. It plays with the mouse brought to it 
by the mother. The puppy plays with mock prey, as pieces of wood. 

This tendency to hunt and chase and kill is early exhibited in 
children, especially among boys. It is shown in the desire to throw 
chips, stones, and other missiles, at almost any sort of target, and 
especially at animal life. Also to chase and kill any kind of animal 
life without reference to the use that these objects may serve. This 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 35 

instinct was very useful in our savage ancestors in securing food. 
G. H. Schneider (Der Menschliche Wille, Berlin, 1882, p. 62) is quoted 
by Groos as saying: "The boy never eats the butterflies, beetles, 
flies, and other insects which he eagerly pursues and possibly dis- 
members, nor does he suck the eggs which he gets from nests in high 
trees, often at the risk of his life. But the sight of these creatures 
awakens in him a strong impulse to plunder, hunt and kill, apparently 
because his savage ancestors obtained their food chiefly by such 
acts." James says that "A boy can no more help running after an- 
other boy who runs provokingly near him than a kitten can help 
running after a rolling ball." James maintains that if not exercised, 
the hunting instinct "may even entirely die out, and a man enjoy let- 
ting a wild creature live, even though he might easily kill it." 

Collecting Instinct. — The instinct to collect, to acquire, to 
possess, is universal among men and extends far down in the 
scale of animal life. It manifests itself very early in the child. 
It appears during the first year, and the collecting aspect ap- 
pears as early as the second year. It is usually active through- 
out life in some form. The way in which the child manifests 
this instinct depends to a great extent on his environment. 
Imitation enters in very materially ; the child collects and de- 
sires to possess what he sees others collecting and possessing, 
but this should not be considered proof that it is not an in- 
stinct. With all its variation due to environment, there is 
beneath all these varied tendencies the tendency to acquire and 
possess something, even aside from any motive that might be 
considered utilitarian. 

Not only is this instinct modified by imitation — in fact 
its manner of manifestation depends almost wholly on imita- 
tion — but it is closely bound up with the functioning of other 
instincts. In connection with the instinct of rivalry, it be- 
comes very intense. Working in conjunction with the self- 
regarding instinct, it may cause this instinct to swing over from 
negative to positive functioning. That is, the acquiring of 
property in the form of .collections or what not, may bring to 
the fore the positive self-feelings, stimulated especially by the 
successful functioning of the instinct of rivalry. It may act 
in conjunction and augment, the instinct of beauty or the 
aesthetic instinct, in the collecting and possessing of beautiful 
things. 

During childhood the objects collected usually have a 
sensory value, bright and attractive, as bright marbles and 
chromos. The objects have value for their own sake. Later, 
during adolescence as altruism develops, this aspect adds 
value to the things collected. Instead of colored cards, photos 
have more value. Such objects as marbles lose their value, 
and collections of autographs mean much more to the collector. 

The question for pedagogy is, "Can this native interest in 
making collections be utilized in the education of the child?" 
I think one is safe in answering this question in the affirma- 
tive. Since this instinct has such a varied manner of func- 
tioning, what the child collects depending so much on the in- 
stinct of imitation, it is possible for the teacher to direct and 
modify the functioning of this native tendency along useful 
lines. Its fi^nctioning can be made to lead to an interest in 



36 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

nature study in collections from that field of knowledge. 
This, of course, includes elementary work in geography. 
This instinct can be turned to good account in the matter of 
making collections of clippings from newspapers and maga- 
zines, useful in almost all lines of school work. This is to 
include collections of memory gems, both in prose and poetry. 
In this way, this instinct can be turned to good account along 
many lines and can thus be made an educational force worthy 
of the consideration of the thoughtful teacher. 

The above suggestions apply most to the pre-adolescent 
years, since the instinct is strongest during that time ; but it 
applies also to adolescent years in a large degree. Here the 
instinct crops out in the form of fads and fashions, but the 
interests established during the pre-adolescent years must be 
followed up and built upon during adolescence. 

This instinct touches elbows with the constructive in- 
stinct in the work in manual training. This instinct, which, in 
its deeper meaning, is the instinct of ownership, is appealed 
to when the child makes that which is to be his very own, and 
especially if it is an article of use to him. In making collec- 
tions, especially in natural history, the instinct acts in con- 
junction with the so-called hunting instinct. The instinct of 
curiosity, too, is ever present. 

There are those who may feel that the collecting instinct 
should be stamped out — if that be possible — or allowed to 
atrophy, because it seems to lead to forms of selfishness of 
very objectionable forms in childhood and of fads in adoles- 
cence. But if the child recapitulates the race, then there are 
these apparently evil tendencies of his savage and perhaps pre- 
human ancestors that must function or be arrested on a low 
plane of development, which is apt to give us the miser or the 
thief. The child, through the proper functioning of this in- 
stinct, has an opportunity to learn lessons of property rights, 
of thrift and of right values. 

This instinct, properly developed, will help to solve some 
of the social evils of pauperism and vagrancy and of the poor 
in general. 

The collecting instinct is closely related to the hunting instinct, 
and no doubt grew out of it. It is seen in the lower animals in the 
tendency to store up food for the winter, as in the squirrel in storing 
up nuts. Also in the bee in storing up honey. It is an aspect of the 
property instinct. There is a tendency in some animals to make a 
collection of objects, without apparent reference to their use, as is 
seen in the crow in its tendencj^ to make collections of miscellaneous 
objects. 

Mrs. Burk has made a careful study of the collecting instinct in 
children, and concludes that it is practically universal among children. 
It appears early and develops rapidly after six and continues to in- 
crease 'till adolescence. She found it strongest between eight and 
eleven. Mrs. Burk found that boys concentrate more on a few things 
in their collecting than do the girls. These run as crazes or fads 
for a time. She found that what children collect is largely due to 
imitation rather than a matter of individual preference. It was found 
that environment had much to do with what the children collected. 
The Santa Barbara children, living near the ocean, collected sea shells 
and sea moss; while the Santa Rosa children, living in an agricultural 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 37 

valley, collected birds' eggs and other objects of the environment. 
As to methods of making collections, Mrs. Burk found that they were 
either obtained by their own exertions, or were given them, or were 
traded for, or were bought or won. The above was the order for 
boys, and for the girls more were given them, next found, bought, 
and traded for. 

Animistic Instinct. — The animistic instinct is nascent 
throughout almost the entire period of childhood. It is per- 
haps most active at about five years — sometimes a little earlier 
and sometimes a little later. It is manifested in their active 
interest in the myth and the fairy tale. The myths that have 
come down to us reveal the attitude of primitive man toward 
his environment. In the early history of the race, this atti- 
tude was retained throughout life, but among civilized races 
this attitude passes with the passing of childhood; that is, it is 
no longer an active conscious attitude after the ushering in 
of the period of reasoning, but it does, and shottld, remain a 
psychic stratification in the deeper sub-conscious parts of the 
soul, just as should many of the tendencies of childhood and 
youth. Else the fountains of childhood and youth will not 
flow in the life of the adult and as a result his life must be- 
come desiccated and stereotyped. 

Since the child's attitude toward the world is closely in 
harmony with that expressed in the myth, we should consider 
the animistic tendency or instinct very important in the qties- 
tion of the way of approach to the child. One of the expres- 
sions of the animistic instinct is the child's native interest in 
the myth. The myths should help the child to interpret the 
phenomena of his environment and to do so most efficiently 
it shotild be made up of elements that are in harmony, in a 
large measure, with his present environment. 

In this animistic tendency, the child projects himself, or 
rather certain of his own characteristics, into the objects of his 
environment. This tendency also leads him to attribute cer- 
tain adult psychic phenomena to objects of his environment. 
Through this tendency he may regard the stars as the eyes 
of God watching him at night. Or he may attribute this power 
to the moon or to trees or to mountains. Who will say that 
these are not powerful forces in making for weal in the moral 
development of the child? We all remember Hawthorne's 
story of the Great Stone Face and the effect the Old Man 
of the Mountain had on the life of Ernest. 

The child that sees in the flower a human face, and the 
dcAvdrop resting therein as tears, is experiencing a psychic 
expansion in human sympathies that, at that time, due to his 
extreme egoistic tendencies, he could not acquire through as- 
sociation v/ith his fellows. 

A study of the child's animistic tendencies is a key to 
right methods in nature study. Teachers and writers on na- 
ture study would force upon the child the attitude toward 
nature that belongs to a much later period. In fact, this 
mistake is made also with the adolescent in the high school. 
I refer to the forcing upon the pupil, of whatever grade, the 
viewpoint belonging to a higher grade. If we would teach 



38 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

the child truth we must lead him to a knowledge of his environ- 
ment through his own natural tendencies. His is not a world 
governed by physical law, but one animated by psychic quali- 
ties closely akin to his own. Let the nature myth be closely 
correlated with the work in nature study. He should be 
saturated with nature poetry suited to his age. 

This animistic tendency is at the very root of the develop- 
ing of the religious nature of the child, just as it was at the 
very foundation of primitive religions. Properly trained, this 
tendenc}' will lead the child to a healthy attitude of awe and 
reverence toward his environment. This attitude is funda- 
mental to right religious training later. 

The adult whose animistic tendencies were properly 
trained in his childhood has "glimpses that make him less for- 
lorn." For him there is more of a "pleasure in the pathless 
woods," and a "rapture on the lonely shore." As it were, he 
will "have sight of Proteus rising from the sea, or hear old 
Triton blow his wreathed horn." He will have life more 
abundantly. 

Through the child's animistic tendencies he is brought into closer 
relations with animate and inanimate life about him. This tendency 
is at the root of his interest in pets. Kaylor, in his study, "Feelings, 
Thought and Conduct of Children toward Animal Pets" (Ped. Sem., 
June, 1909), has some valuable contributions to offer. A few will be 
noted here. He found that the order of popularity of pets was dog, 
cat, canary, horse, and rabbit, etc. The interest in the horse increases 
rapidly from seven to sixteen, in both boys and girls. At all ages, 
boys have more interest in rabbits than have girls. Boys have less 
interest in parrots than have girls, and this interest declines after 
nine, while in girls this interest gradually rises till fifteen, when their 
interest in the horse and their keen interest in the parrot are about 
equal. He found that young children prefer pets that they can fondle 
and carry around. His returns show that the child is interested most 
in the activities of animals; that he attributes to the animal moral 
qualities and emotions; that he shows real sorrow when his pet is 
taken from him, and sympathy when a pet is abused. 

The child's attitude toward inanimate nature is well shown in 
the study made by Slaughter, "The Moon in Childhood and Folklore" 
(American Journal of Psychology, April, 1902)- One thing clearly 
brought out in his returns was that the child attributes life to the 
moon — makes it a personality. They either regarded it as a man or 
as containing a man; sometimes, however, this personality would be 
a woman. Sometimes this person in the moon would be regarded as 
God, or as someone who watched naughty children and told God of 
their doings. Some regarded it as a place where dead people go. 
This study shows conclusively the importance of the moon in the 
child's life, and suggests the importance of other phenomena. 

Expressive Instinct. — The expressive instinct is perhaps 
the most fundamental in the process of language learning, the 
instinct of imitation being a close second. 

Just as the motor activities of the child have their begin- 
nings in its aimless automatic movements, so does language 
have its beginnings in the meaningless babblings of the in- 
fant. Thus does the expressive instinct function, first in 
exercising the organs of speech, the lips, tongue, larynx, and 
lungs. These early forms of expression are wholly motor, but 
before the close of the first year they begin to be reactions to 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 39 

sensory stimulation. About this time imitation begins to co- 
operate with tiie expressive instinct and words begin to take 
on emotional coloring and come more and more to have 
ideational content. Word learning proper does not usually 
begin before the latter half of the second year. Through 
imitation to aid him in learning words, the child is able to utter 
many words whose meaning he does not yet know. 

Not only does the child learn to express himself in oral 
language, but he dlso learns to express himself even more 
vigorously by means of gestures of the body, face and limbs. 

Another well knov/n form of expression is that displayed 
in the child's work in drawing. It acts in conjunction with 
the constructive and aesthetic instincts in the work in draw- 
ing. It functions first in the so-called scribble stage, but 
comes more and more to represent mental states of the child. 

In the earlier stages of the child's work in drawing, the 
expressive instinct is the predominating instinct, for he draws 
what is in his mind rather than representations of what he 
sees. Later, as his imagination develops and his power to 
execute increases, the constructive instinct co-operates more 
and more with the expressive instinct in the work in drawing. 
This is the condition during later childhood and pre-adoles- 
cence. During the latter part of pre-adolescence and adoles- 
cence, when the individual's sense of beauty is nascent, the 
aesthetic instinct co-operates with the instinct of expression 
and construction. As a result, the art phase of drawing be- 
comes of interest to the pupil. 

During the juvenile or pre-adolescent period, the language 
interest is nascent. It is so active that there is a strong ten- 
dency for the child to make w^ords. This is the period of 
pig latin and a secret language, deaf-and-dumb alphabet, ges- 
ture language and slang. This is the time to teach him one 
or more foreign languages, chiefly, however, by the conversa- 
tional method. This could be begun during the early part of 
this period, and during the latter part of the period, Latin and 
Greek, if they are ever to be taught the child, could advan- 
tageously be begun. Since the juvenile period is one of hab- 
ituation, this is the time to give the boy or girl the language 
habit. In this way later work in language will be made easy. 

Since the juvenile period is the nascent period for the 
verbal memory,- not only can the above work be done to ad- 
vantage, but also much can be done in the child's native tongue. 
He should become a master in his own language, so far as its 
mechanics are concerned. At the close of the juvenile period 
the boy or girl should be a good reader. 

The juvenile's tendency to expression should be stimu- 
lated to function freely in oral speech. Less written and more 
oral expression should be the watchword ; and indeed, so it 
will be if we allow his innate tendencies full rein. The circuit 
of communication established in the evolution of the race is 
the short one, from ear to mouth. The long circuit, from eye 
to hand, is of recent origin in race history and should always 
occupy a subordinate place. 



40 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

Expression to be genuine must represent that which is 
within. If the individual's native interests are followed in 
the matter of language training, his language will truly ex- 
press what is within. This is violated most in composition 
work. The work should be based on subjects in which the 
pupil is genuinely interested. 

In the teaching of foreign languages, the new words 
should be presented in the presence of objects or pictures of 
objects which the words represent, and not through the me- 
dium of English equivalents. This is the natural way and 
hence follows the pupil's native interests. In this way the 
word is more readily recalled because it is associated from the 
first with the object which it represents. 

Since imitation enters so largely into the process of learn- 
ing languages, the child's environment becomes a most im- 
portant factor. It has been said that if we give the child the 
proper environment, imitation will do the rest. 

During the entire school period the pupil should be en- 
couraged to commit choice passages from literature, both 
prose and poetry, especially the latter. This will aid him very 
materially in gaining a choice vocabulary. The adolescent 
should read widely and a few choice books should be read very 
carefully. Whatever enriches his life will aid his power of 
expression. 

The laneruaRc, or expressive instinct, in the lower animals is 
perhaps purely instinctive, as it is in the yoiine child, consisting of 
sounds and signs, serving to express physical needs and the lower 
forms of emotional states. Trettien, in his study of the "Psychology 
of the Languag'e Interest of Children" (Ped. Sem., June, 1904), worked 
out some valuable conclusions on the development of the expressive 
tendencies in children. The first form of expression that he found 
was the differentiated cry by which the young babe expresses its 
wants. The next stage he calls that of spontaneous babblings. He 
quotes Miss Shinn as saying that on the one hundred thirtv-seventh 
day the child first showed si^ns of distinguishing between her voice 
and that of the mother. Trettien found that the child begins con- 
scious imitation between the seventh and ninth months. A little 
earlier than this it was found that the child began to understand the 
meanings of certain words as, perhaps, dinner, papa, and mamma. He 
found a retardation of languasre development between the ninth and 
fifteenth months, due, he thinks, to teething and walking. Found a 
great increase in the rapidity of learning words from about the 
eiehteenth to the thirtieth months. In some cases this be^an earlier. 
The child begins to use the sentence at about the eighteenth or 
twentieth month. Near the close of the second year, in some cases 
earlier, the child begins to use inflected forms in his sentences. The 
child begins to use the personal pronouns, according to Trettien, dur- 
ing the first half of the third year. About this time and a little later, 
there is a stage of spontaneous play upon words, as is shown in the 
interest in rhymes and jingles. 

Rhythmic Instinct. — One of the most pronounced of the 
instinctive tendencies is that of rhythm. This tendency ap- 
pears early in the first year of life. Very early in life is the 
child charmed into silence or lulled to sleep by rhythmic 
movements of the body or by the lullaby song. Before the 
child is two, it begins to be interested in jingles and rh3^mes, 
and a year or two later this interest is nascent. The child now 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 41 

delights in jingles and rhymes. Firm and lasting foundations 
can be laid now for the rhythmic element in literature. Much 
of the delight and literary culture that the child derives from 
literature during the period of childhood is on its auditory 
side. Much poetry can be read and taught the child whose 
content he can little comprehend on the thought side ; it is 
worth while for its auditory appeal. 

Up through the grades, the high school, the college, and 
through life the rhythmic instinct continues to feed the interest 
in poetry. If more stress were laid on the reading aloud of 
poetry, in whatever grade, and less stress were laid on cold- 
blooded analysis, many would learn to love poetry who now 
turn from it in disgust. Let us remember that much of the 
lasting charm of poetry is in its auditory appeal. 

Much of the interest the child manifests in music is due 
to the functioning of the rhythmic instinct. This interest 
should be quite as carefully ministered to as his interest in 
poetry. Through both poetry and music the child's finer 
sentiments of home and fatherland and religion can be culti- 
vated. 

The child's instinctive rhvthmic tendencies are at the basis 
of his interest in marching and keepino- time. Many exercises 
and eames should be given, in which the child is by nature ex- 
tremelv interested, but which are likewise the exercises most 
needed to give him the verv best development, not only for 
his present needs, but which will best prepare him for the 
periods to follow. 

This instinct should be dulv reckoned with in the ouestion 
as to whether the child should be tausrht to dance. We know 
that it is as natural for the child to respond in rhythmical, 
bodilv movements to music as it is for it to breathe. This i' 
a tendencv that should, bv all means, be tnrned to educational 
account in the matter of teachinpf the child to dance. 

No doubt the rhythmic instinct in man evolved to a great 
extent throueh his reactions to the rhythmic elements of 
natural phenomena, such as the swavine of the branches of 
the trees, the sing-in? of thp birds, the murmuringr of the brook, 
the roarinp- of the waterfall, the pulsatino- of the ocean on its 
shore, and the reverberatiner of the thunder in the heavens, etc. 
The rhvthmic instinct is one of the innate tendencies that leads 
the child back to nature. It creates in him a sort of home- 
sickness, as it were. Hence, the rhvthmic instinct is one of 
the points of contact in the work in nature study. Let the 
work in nature studv and nature poetrv be closelv correlated 
here. Thus, the sentiments that underlie the child's religious 
and aesthetic nature are fed. 

In his study of rhvtbm (Ped. Sem., March, 1901). Sears found 
that it aooears earlier in p-irls than in boys: that rhvthmic movements 
of the fundamental muscles come before those of the accessory; that 
the child nrefers dunle to triple time; that the child nrefers rhythms 
that are lively or fast. Returns seem to bear out Donovan's state- 
ment that "the infant is capable of attendinor to rhvthmic stimuli Ions? 
before it is caoable of any other art of attention." Children become 
interested in nursery rhymes and jingles some time after they mani- 



42 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

fest an interest in nursery sounds and movements. He found great 
variation in children in their interest in rhythm. They show decided 
preferences. "Mothe.r Hubbard" led, with "Jack Horner," "Bo Peep," 
and "House that Jack Built" as close seconds. In regard to interest 
in marching, he found that special interest arises in girls frorn nine 
to ten and in boys from ten to eleven. Interest in dancing arises at 
about thirteen or fourteen. Sears thinks that since rhythni is so 
largely physiological no one is entirely void of it, but it exists in vary- 
ing degrees. From this study of rhythm, Sears concludes as follows: 
"When we consider that the mind works rhythmically, that the body 
consists of nearly four hundred organs of motion whose action is 
rhythmic, that rhythm has been a prominent factor in the develop- 
ment of the race, and that probably the development of the race is in 
many ways repeated in that of the child, we are led to believe that 
the subject of instruction in rhythm demands more attention in both 
the home and the school than is now given it." 

Constructive Instinct.— During the period of infancy the 
child can be said to manifest the tendency to construct, but 
faintly, if at all. For the most part, his life up to this time 
has been passive ; but after getting his first teeth and after 
learning to walk, which mark his entrance upon the period of 
childhood, he becomes more aggressive. 

In the early months of childhood this aggressiveness is 
manifested chiefly in moving about from place to place and in 
grasping objects — examining them first hand. This impulse 
to know things first hand manifests itself in the tendency to 
destroy things which is in reality a phase of the constructive 
instinct. 

The tendency to construct is, perhaps, first touched off 
through the functioning of the instinct of imitation. The child 
builds up his blocks as he sees someone else build them. If 
he sees someone writing or drawing, he takes a pencil and imi- 
tates in marks or scribbles, but it is several years before he 
can do eflfective constructive work, due to his inability to 
co-ordinate his movements. His sensory during these years 
is far in advance of his motor ability. His fundamental 
muscles are fairly well developed, but not his finer accessory 
muscles. During the entire period of childhood, his construc- 
tive work should be such as to require the large, free move- 
ments Avhich bring into function chiefly the larger, more 
fundamental muscles. Some work in drawing can be taught, 
but little, if any, work in writing should be done, because such 
work brings into function the finer accessory muscles. This 
is apt to cause arrested development or to bring on nervous 
trouble. His accessory muscles and the nerves controlling 
them are not yet developed. For this reason his movements 
lack co-ordination. His activity is an end in itself. He seeks 
activity, and hence growth, through play. The sensory still 
leads the motor in development. In his constrtictive work, 
the child should not be held to exactness. In his drawing 
work he should be allowed to follow pretty much his own 
bent. Large, free movements and spontaneity should be the 
watchword. 

This tendency may be allowed to function delightfully and 
profitably during childhood, in paper cutting, modeling in clay 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. '^^ 

and sand; but here again, fine work and overexactness should 

^ ^Durins- the juvenile period the individual is active in many 
directions He has acquired sufficient mental and muscular 
co-ordination to become an effective producer. He should be 
led to make those things in which he has an niterest and which 
may be of service to him. His impulse to make thmgs should 
be correlated with his whole course, as much as possible, i he 
juvenile period is a practical one and, therefore that which 
he constructs should have some practical end In the early 
part of this period he is perhaps most interested m toys ; there- 
fore if we are to follow his native interests, we should allow 
him' to make toys. Later in the period, and continuing 
through the school period of adolescence, because of his grow- 
ing interest in scientific questions, his interest on the con- 
structive side centers in scientific apparatus. In this way 
there may be brought about an interaction between the scien- 
tific and constructive impulses that will result m mcreased 
interest along both lines. . . 

Let us always remember that the constructive instinct 
evolved in the human race through utility. The impulse that 
led men to make things was that of utility. If we would fol- 
low the pupil's native interests in the functioning of his in- 
stinct of construction, we should allow him to make those 
things which will be of use to him. . • • i 

This is the period in which the mechanics of writing and 
drawing should be taught. His general tendency to do and 
to make may be turned along these channels. His tendency 
to self-expression should also be utilized in teaching him writ- 
ing, and drawing, but no great amount of written work should 
be demanded. Accuracy, which would have been injurious 
during the period of childhood, should now be insisted upon 
in all lines of work. 

No argument is needed to prove that the lower animals possess 
in a high degree the constructive instinct. This is a matter ot 
every day observation. It is seen in the nest-buildmg tendencies ot 
birds, perches, hedgehogs, squirrels, field mice; in the earthworks ot 
beavers, foxes, badgers, fish-otters, rabbits, etc. Also in the leaty 
arbors of many kinds of apes. The above enumerations are trom 
Groos (The Play of Animals). 

James, in his Talks to Teachers, p. 146. says: Constructiveness 
is the instinct most active; and by the incessant hammering and saw- 
ing, and dressing and undressing of dolls, putting of things together 
and taking them apart, the child not only trains the muscles to co- 
ordinate action, but accumulates a store of physical conceptions which 
are the basis of his knowledge of the material world through lite. 
Object teaching and manual training wisely extend the sphere of this 
order of acquisitions. Clay, wood, metals and the various kinds ot 
tools are made to contribute to the store." Dr. Hall, in his btory 
of a Sandpile," has shown in a very convincing manner the import- 
ance of the constructive instinct. Dr. Acher, in his 'Primitive 
Activities of Children" (American Journal of Psychology, January, 
1910) has given us some valuable facts in regard to this tendency. 
He found the block-building period to extend from before the close of 
the third year to the seventh year. If blocks were not to be had, 
they used other objects for this purpose. Constructing with sand and 
earth begins early and extends to a much later time than with blocks. 
Building" with stones did not begin as early and did not continue as 



44 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

late as with earth. The passion for making constructions of snow 
was found very general. Made forts, houses, caves, and large balls. 

Moral Instinct. — If it is true that the child is neither moral 
nor immoral, but unmoral, it seems to be a contradiction of 
terms to assign to him. a moral instinct. While it is perhaps 
true that the child does not have a tendency to act in any 
particular direction in consequence of the workings of moral 
instinct, yet there is a tendency to conform to law — to the 
necessities of his environment. This tendency, it must be 
admitted, is very faint in some children, due in great measure 
to the extreme egoism of the child. 

One's tendency to conform to laws that are for the good 
of those with whom he comes in contact, as well as his ten- 
dency to conform to -laws which make for his own well-being, 
may be considered the moral instinct. 

During childhood the child's conduct, or impulses to do 
right, if they may be so called, are largely matters of imitation 
and suggestion on the part of his elders. And. too, what they 
allow him to do he considers right, and what they forbid him 
to do usually is wrong. 

His impulses to do right evolve and function as he de- 
velops both physically and mentally. His impulses for right 
doing seem to depend for their functioning on the standards 
set up by his elders. 

Standards accepted by the individual during his pre- 
adolescent years are often dominant factors in the direction 
taken by his ethical impulses, even throughout life. This is 
shown in much of the early training of the church. Hence, it 
is especially very important during the juvenile period, the 
period of habituation and co-ordination, to train the individual 
to act in accordance with right standards. These standards, 
however, are not to be reasoned about by the child, but to be 
accepted on the authority o^^ his elders. His reason is not 
sufficiently developed to be able to acquire standards of con- 
duct through this avenue. To attempt to force the child's 
reason at this period is to cause arrested developm-cnt of the 
individual's moral impulses and also to impair his power for 
vigorous reasoning later. 

Obedience, based on authority, appeals to the individual 
more at this age than does obedience demanded on the basis of 
reason. His instinctive tendencies to obedience respond to 
the former, but not to the latter, especially because of his 
inability to reason at this age. If the boy and girl are trained 
to obedience, the will of the adolescent will not have to be 
broken. 

Moral training is the forming of right habits of conduct. 
It is to adjust the child to his social environment. When con- 
formity to outer law becomes habit, then the law becomes an 
inner impulse. This should be the goal of the moral training 
of the child. 

When right habits of conduct are formed, and thus right 
impulses to action established, then right doing becomes a 
pleasure to the child. In this way firm foundations are laid 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 45 

for the period of pubescence, which is one of the most trying 
to pass through because it is a period of readjustment — a 
transition period to adolescence proper. The soul now begins 
to experience a tremendous expansion. It is beginning to feel 
itself a part of the great world. It is becoming altruistic. The 
individual has already had much preparation for this in the 
co-operative and group games, and the gangs and clubs of 
the juvenile period. He has become habituated to regard the 
rights of others, but now he begins to feel what he formerly 
did more from the necessity of the case. 

One of the most important forces making for right moral 
conduct is the forming of right ideals. The child drew his 
material for ideal making chiefly from his environment. The 
pubescent and adolescent use these sources, too, but to a great 
extent get much from literature, history and art. The social 
environment is now very important, because the individual 
is so sensitive to the opinion of others. If his companions 
and elders are people of high ideals, he is pretty safe, morally. 

The emotional life now, is at high tide. This is the 
nascent period to present much that is best in literature. There 
is hardly a form of literature that does not now appeal to the 
individual. Many dangerous tendencies in the emotional li^e 
can be drafted off by means of literature. 

This is the nascent period to teach some of the most pro- 
found lessons that nature has for the individual. This can be 
done through first hand contact with nature and through 
nature literature. 

Miss Patterson, in the study Children's Motives (Barnes Studies 
in Education, Vol. I, p. 352), has some optimistic conclusions. She 
had a class of first grade pupils reproduce orally a study told them, 
in which figure two characters, the bad white bear and the good gray 
robin. In their answers the boys showed a greater degree of selfish- 
ness than did the girls, but, on the other hand, the boys gave a 
broader ethical application of the story than did the girls. About 
75% of the boys and 80% of the girls showed the spirit of unselfish- 
ness in their answers to questions given them after a lapse of two 
weeks. Miss Patterson concludes the study in the following words: 
"It is said that children are naturally selfish, and rightly so, as self- 
preservation is Nature's first law. With very young children this 
statement is certainly true. But these little ones come from families 
of the very poor, and many of them have had little moral training. 
* * * This study seems to indicate that there is in them such a 
thing as innate kindness and benevolence, and that unselfishness char- 
acterizes the majority of them." 

Miss Darrah, in her study Children's Attitude Toward Law 
(Barnes' Studies in Education, Vol. I, p. 213). finds that the curve 
fluctuates till twelve, when it gradually rises. She concludes: "Young 
children regard punis'nment as an individual and arbitrary matter, im- 
posed without reference to the social order, while after the age of 
twelve there is a steady increase in the regard for law, three-fourths 
of the children of sixteen appreciating its binding force." She thinks 
that there should be no definite penalties, but that the punishment 
should be suited to the individual case in children. 

Religious Instinct. — The religious instinct, like the moral 
instinct, is an impulse that results from the operation of sev- 
eral other instincts acting conjointly. Some of these tendencies 
that may be appealed to in the religious education of the child 



46 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

are credulity, fear, animism, curiosity, imitation, the dramatic 
instinct, the esthetic instinct, and the self-reg-arding instinct. 
The child up to twelve or thirteen years of age is not, in 
the true sense of the term, religious, but these years before 
adolescence, in his religious training as also in moral training, 
may be considered a necessary preparatory stage. There are 
many stages, both religious and moral, through which the race 
passes, that are necessary for the child to recapitulate in order 
that he be best prepared for the religious renaissance or 
awakening that takes place during the period of adolescence. 

He must pass through the age of myth, of form and cere- 
mony, in which he must take an active part. Religion, for 
the child, cannot be made a thing of the intellect. It must be, 
rather, a thing of form and ceremony based largely on credulity 
or crude faith and, as much as the child is capable, a thing of 
the feelings — the cruder feelings such as belong to the child. 
Religion is at all times essentially a thing of the feelings, but 
not until adolescence does it lay hold on the deeper feelings. 
The work of religious training of the child, up to puberty, is 
essentially that of cultivating the feelings and forming such 
habits as will best fit him for the true religious awakening 
that comes at adolescence. 

The mistake that is made in religious education is in 
attempting to force upon the child adult standards and view- 
points. Child study has already done much to change this 
method of procedure, and has still a great work to do in 
leading parents and religious teachers to see that religious 
training is without effect if it does not find a point of contact 
in the nature of the child. 

As noted above, the religious nature of the individual 
during the period of childhood is seen chiefly in his credulity 
and mythopoeic or anthropomorphic tendencies. During the 
juvenile period there is a tendency to accept standards as based 
on the authority of his elders. There is a strong tendency to 
conform to law and custom. The literature that best fits the 
interests arising from his religious tendencies is that found in 
the Old Testament. As to its fitness to serve as proper food 
for the religious nature of the juvenile, Dr. Hall writes as 
follows : "The Old Testament begins with the myth of cosmic 
virgins, and passes to the agricultural and pastoral stage of 
Cain and Abel, the heroics of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses 
and Joshua, the royalt}^ of Saul, David and Solomon, the legal 
stage of law and justice which so appeals to boys, to dawning 
prophecy, etc. It is all objective, strenuous, full of incident, 
battles, dramatic incidents, and with a large repertory of 
persons. There is fear, anger, jealousy, hate, but not love, and 
it depicts an age of discipline and authority." He goes on to 
speak of the fitness, likewise, of the New Testament for the 
religious nature of the adolescent, as follows: "Later comes 
the adolescent New Testament stage, with its altruistic mo- 
tives, and, last, the philosophic age of Pauline and other doc- 
trines which appeal to the intellect. All this is normal and in 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 47 

pedagogic sequence, the order of which should not be reversed, 
as is so often done in rehgious teaching." 

Lancaster, in speaking of the religious awakening at 
adolescence, writes as follows : "Religion before this age was 
a mere form. Now it becomes full of meaning. It is a new 
interest, and very many speak of it as a sudden awakening. 
It is often spontaneous, like the interest in art or music, or 
the love of nature. Where no set forms have been urged, the 
religious emotion conies forth as naturally as the sun rises." 

In its functioning, the religious instinct is not a fixed 
thing, but is ever changing with the development of the in- 
dividual. In its operation it works in close conjunction with 
many other instincts. In its early operations it leads the child 
to an interest in nature ; indeed, this interest in nature, as 
stimulated by the religious impulse, should remain a perma- 
nent possession throughout life, if this interest is properly 
cultivated during the earlier years. Much effective work can 
be done in literature through the native interests arising from 
the functioning of this instinct, especially in nature poetry in 
which are the elements of awe, sublimity, majesty and 
grandeur, depicting the great forces of nature. 

Starbuck, in his study of the religion of children, notes that one 
of the most prominent features is the unquestioning way that they 
accept what is taught them in church, Sunday school, home, etc. The 
element of imitation he found more noticeable among girls, and 
obedience among boys. He found some cases of incredulity and 
distrust. Their sense of right and wrong he found germinates very 
early and is a potent factor in childhood religion. Fear is prominent, 
but less so than love. Awe and reverence appear later. Starbuck 
finds a clearing of the religious atmosphere tovv'ard the beginning of 
adolescence. Ideas of God and duty begin then to take root in the life. 
The real religious awakening, he finds, comes with the advent of 
puberty. 

Earl Barnes made a study of "Children's Attitude toward 
Theology" (Studies in Education, Vol. 2, p. 283). In his work he 
studied several hundred children. Following are some of his conclu- 
sions: A knowledge of theology meets a natural need of a child's 
mind and gives him a key to art, literature, and history. Sunday 
school and home must be depended on chiefly to give him instruction. 
Under ten, the child will accept almost anything told him, but there 
is a tendency for him to anthropomorphize. From ten to twelve is a 
period of doubt M^hen these earlier attitudes are translated into spirit- 
ual equivalents. After twelve the religious life rests more in emo- 
tional conditions and unreasoning faith. The child who has not 
passed properly and healthfully through these various stages "will 
have lost something in the depth and strength of this humanity." 

Motor Instinct. — By motor instincts are meant all those 
innate tendencies to movement. The first movements of the 
child are random, but none-the-less important. These early 
movements might be termed reflex ; that is, they belong to the 
lower centers. It is through these random movements that 
motor or kinesthetic ideas or images have their genesis. This 
gradually evolves into controlled or voluntary movement. 

As the child grows older, various nerve centers ripen in 
the motor areas, in a successive order, and thus give rise to 
innate or instinctive tendencies to movement. Suddenly the 
child begins to creep, or it may be, to walk. The nerve cen- 
ters governing these respective movements are ripe or nascent 



48 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

and the child is seized with the impulse to perform the act. 
The innate tendency is functioning. 

It has been suggested that from the many aimless move- 
ments of the child, are chosen those which best adjust him to 
his environment ; that is, have the greatest survival value. 
During the transition period from infancy to childhood, which 
occurs when he is learning to walk, and includes also the 
period of teething, the child changes from a receptive being 
to one of aggressive activity. This is also the first nascent 
period of the migratory instinct. At about this time, or a 
little later, there is a tendency for the child to climb upon 
things. 

During the period of childhood, motor centers in the brain 
ripen in rapid succession, giving rise to many and varied ten- 
dencies to movement. These find an outlet through the play 
instinct chiefly. The muscles that function in response to 
these motor tendencies are the larger and more fundamental 
ones. During childhood there is a great lack of co-ordination 
of movement. This is especially true of the accessory or 
finer movements. To force these accessory movements to 
become co-ordinated is a common error of the primary school 
in the too-early teaching of penmanship, in the too-exact work 
in drawing; in fine, the forcing of the child to prematurely co- 
ordinated movement along whatever line, in order to make 
him skilful in such work. 

During the juvenile period the nerve centers, governing 
the accessory muscles and hence the finer accessory move- 
ments, ripen rapidly. During this period co-ordinations, both 
physical and mental, become well established. This is the 
period to establish right habits in movement — to make them 
automatic as much as possible. Discipline, drill and habi- 
tuation, are the things to be emphasized during the juvenile 
period — the period from about eight or nine to twelve or 
thirteen. The individual, during this period, grows more 
slowly than during the previous period (childhood), but his 
vitality and activity increase very markedly. He is less easily 
fatigued and hence can do much work along many lines. This 
is the nascent period for writing, drawing, manual training, 
the technique of musical instruments and the forming of 
right habits belonging to the vocal apparatus. The many 
physical and mental readjustments of puberty bring about 
some regressions but, during adolescence, co-ordination is 
regained in greater degree, and the individual is now capable 
of the greatest degree of skill possible. 

Motor tendencies are, in some form, a universal possession of all 
animal life. They are very simple in the lowest forms of life, but 
become more complex as the scale is ascended. There is a general 
correspondence between the degree of intelligence and the coinplexity 
of movement. In many of the lower animals a large per cent of 
its motor tendencies are functioning at birth. Some are about as help- 
less as the new-born infant, though their period of helplessness does 
not last as long. Says Groos: "Birds can no more fly of themselves 
than babies can walk. The infant's kicking corresponds to the flut- 
tering of little birds in the nest and his first step to its first attempt 
at flight." Shepardson, in Fed. Sem., March, 1907, p. 102, quotes Ross 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 49 

as follows: "The main movements which distinguish man from the 
lower animals are those concerned in attaining the erect posture, 
the varied movements of the hands as organs of prehension, the 
movements of voice and articulation concerned in speech and those 
which are active in the production of facial expression." 

J. A. Gilbert reports in the Iowa University Studies in Psychology, 
Vol. 1, a study of the motor ability of children. In "wrist lift," boys 
have greater strength than girls, at all ages, the difference not being 
so marked till age fourteen, but at nineteen a boy lifts about twice 
as much as a girl. "Mean variations remain comparatively regular 
for the two sexes until about age fourteen, and the change in the 
variation is largely due to the change in growth coming at that age. 
Girls seem to complete largely their development a year or tv^o 
previous to the time at which boys have just begun their most rapid 
period of development." 

Play Instinct. — Play is an activity that prepares the indi- 
vidual for the serious work of life, by giving a certain practice 
in doing things. It is an act that is performed for its own 
sake, and is therefore perfectly adapted to the performer. It 
is a spontaneous activity. Almost every innate tendency has 
its play aspect. Play is a preparatory stage for most of the 
tendencies. Surplus energy does not cause play, but makes 
the conditions more favorable. The first forms of play are 
the aimless movements of the infant. These are performed 
again and again. 

The spontaneous activities- of the child are the true reveal- 
ers of his nature. Through play activities, the various in- 
stincts function and pass over into habit. The form of the 
play activity is determined, through imitation, by the nature 
of the environment. In this way the child is adjusted to his 
environment and this adjustment is made stable in the pass- 
ing over of the instinctive tendencies into habits. 

Play should never be closely supervised ; especially is this 
true during the period of childhood when spontaneity is its 
chief characteristic. No spontaneity, no initiative. It is in 
play activities that the child, in a great measure, exercises his 
race tendencies, so that these activities must be on his own 
initiative and hence, spontaneous. These activities are ends in 
themselves. Organized play is not for the child. He still 
lacks the element of control — of muscular co-ordination. He 
has not as yet acquired control of his accessory muscles. Dur- 
ing childhood the games are more or less individual. Egoism 
dominates the child's life on every hand. During the first 
four or five years of the child's life, what he plays is largely a 
matter of imitation. The child's activities during this period 
are almost wholly of the nature of play. What the child plays 
should be largely of his own choosing. He should be given 
opportunity to have great variety. Through the great variety 
of his instinctive tendencies, and with the aid of imitation, 
there is scarcely an activity of his environment that he does 
not act out. During the greater part of the period of child- 
hood, imagination is the predominating element in play. 
Through imagination and the play impulse the child acts 
many and varied parts. Through these tendencies the child 
grows rapidly and in many directions. He is especially 



50 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

interested in acting out what he hears. This is the nascent 
period to have him dramatize stories. 

During the juvenile period, the aspect of emulation enters 
more and more into the games. In these co-operative and group 
games the individual learns as nowhere else how to conform to 
law. He is acting out in play what he must act seriously later 
in life as a member of society. This is the best sort of civic 
education. 

During this period play should continue to be spontaneous 
as in childhood, but the individualistic aspect is growing less 
and the spirit of co-operation is on the increase. During the 
early part of the period the bonds that hold together the group 
in these co-operative games are weak and easily broken, but the 
tendency is there and grows stronger till toward the close of 
the period. At twelve or thirteen, such organizations as 
are seen in team work on the athletic field, remain in effective 
organization for months at a time. The individual has learned 
to give up much for the sake of the group. Spontaneity has 
passed, to a great extent, from the individual to the group. In 
childhood, the initiative was largely with the individual ; now 
it is chiefly with the group. Through these group or co- 
operative games the juvenile learns many valuable lessons of 
self-control. He is being fitted to become a true member of 
society. 

The fighting and hunting instincts function as play during 
the latter part of this period and during the period of puberty, 
so that games of contest are now prominent. Predatory ten- 
dencies show themselves in play at this time, in gangs whose 
purpose is to hunt, fish, rob, etc. 

Since the play instinct is an aspect of nearly every other 
instinct, it may be utilized along many lines in developing and 
increasing the individual's range of interests. 

The play aspect of the collecting and hunting instincts 
may be utilized in creating in the child and youth permanent 
interest in nature, through making collections. This close 
contact with nature will lead to other interests. The con- 
structive instinct, too, has its play aspect. Dr. Hall has shown 
what a tremendous force this is in the life of the child in his 
"Story of a Sandpile." In manual training, so-called, this play 
aspect shows itself vigorously if the pupil is allowed to follow 
his own bent in what he makes ; if allowed to make that which 
will be of use to him. 

Groos has well shown in his Play of Animals that play is a 
very common instinct in the lower animals. Not only is it found in 
young animals, but in old ones as well. He says: "I have a dog 
twelve years old that still shows a disposition to play now and then." 
"The cat plays with the captured mouse and the cormorant with the 
captured fish. The weaver-bird, when confined in a cage, amuses 
itself by neatly weaving blades of grass between the wires of the 
cage." We are all familiar with the play of kittens and puppies. 

Miss Sisson, in her article on Children's Plays (Barnes' Studies 
in Education, Vol. 1, p. 171), has given the results of an observational 
study of a group of twenty-nine kindergarten children. This being a 
kindergarten connected with the public schools, all classes of children 
were represented. Daily observations were made. No suggestions 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 51 

were made as to what the children should play. They soon divided into 
four groups. First, the larger boys who played somewhat rough 
and boisterous games. Second, the larger girls whose games were 
wholly dramatic, playing house and school in rather a quiet manner. 
Third group made up of smaller children and one of the older but 
more bashful girls. Their play was somewhat broken up between 
short games and running from one part of the yard to another. The 
last group were the remainder who were listless or backward and 
took very little interest in any of the plays. Plays originated from 
two different sources, from the leader or because of the special in- 
terest of the game itself. But both were suggested by the environ- 
ment. Everything that took place around them was "mirrored in their 
plays," observed Miss Sisson. Whatever they played, their whole 
heart was in it. She concludes: "It was an expression of the chil- 
dren themselves and truer than any set exercise or experiment could 
give." 

Aesthetic Instinct. — The aesthetic instinct acts in con- 
junction with many other instincts. In the mating tendencies 
of the opposite sexes, it plays a very important role. In the 
human species this is more prominent in the female than in 
the male. This impulse begins to show itself at the dawn of 
puberty, especially in the female. The sex phase of the 
aesthetic instinct seems to be stronger or weaker in propor- 
tion as the sex instinct is strong or weak. 

The rhythmic impulse is attended in its functioning by 
a sense of the beautiful — a feeling of the aesthetic as is seen 
in the effect of poetry or dancing, on the individual. So, too,, 
do the expressive, dramatic, animistic, and constructive in 
stincts have their attending aesthetic phases. 

Since the aesthetic instinct functions in conjunction with 
the functioning of so many other instincts, its development 
depends in a great measure on the development of these other 
instincts. 

Since the individual, during the period of childhood, is 
largely sensory and motor in its reactions to its environment, 
we find the aesthetic impulse has its basis in things of sense 
and motion, especially in color, sound, odor, and rhythm. It 
should be noted in this connection that the more fundamental 
aspects of the beautiful appeal to children rather than the 
more complex, and we might say, accessory. There is a 
genetic order here as elsewhere. The interest in the more 
refined aspects is nascent in adolescence. 

Appreciation of symmetry and beauty of form seems to 
develop with the development of the manual skill which does 
not come very long before puberty — not until the accessory 
muscles are fairly well developed. 

In the matter of adjusting pictures to the native interests 
of the child, this genetic order could, to advantage, be observed. 
In general, it is perhaps safe to say that for the lower grades 
there should be more color and motion, though not of such low 
order as to create wrong standards. Masterpieces, in which 
animal life is shown, should be given. In general, as to sub- 
ject matter, pictures should show that in which the child is 
interested, at whatever age, and in artistic execution should 
range up through the grades from simple to complex. 

As the individual approaches adolescence, his interest in 



52 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

beauty of form and color deepens, and grows more refined in 
his work in drawing. In the earlier years his aesthetic in- 
terest in drawing has been chiefly that of color. 

Colin Scott has shown that with the advent of the pubertal 
functioning of the sex instinct, and increasingly as the indi- 
vidual advances through the years of adolescence, the appre- 
ciation of the elements of beauty in every line grows keener. 
I think that he shows conclusively that the instinct of sex and 
the aesthetic instinct function in close relationship with each 
other. This is the period when the interest in the beauty 
aspect, along whatever line, is nascent. This is the time to 
do much in literature, art, music, and skilful work in manual 
training. 

Groos thinks that though the aesthetic impulse may not be pos- 
sessed by the lower animals, yet he thinks the germ of it is there. 
He thinks it is displayed in three forms, self-exhibition, imitation and 
decoration. He says: "The bird that adorns his nest imitates the 
example of others, and expresses his personality in the work. The 
bird that mimics another often effects the improvement in his own 
song, and indulges in self-exhibition; and the bird that displays his 
skill to admiring females does not fail to employ the principles of 
imitation and decoration. So we find in animals, and especially in 
birds who, though so distantly related to us, seem by reason of their 
upright carriage more near, a certain analogy to our own system of 
arts." 

Miss Martin, in the American Journal of Psychology, January, 
1905, gives the results of experiments made by her on the comic, a 
phase of the aesthetic instinct. She found the comic impression from 
a picture decreases by repeated exposures; that "the presence of a 
smiling or doleful face in a picture increases its funniness; that in- 
creasing the size of a picture and moving it, helps its funniness; that 
looking at comic and other pictures and listening to jokes increased 
both the rapidity of the breathing and of the pulse." Earl Barnes 
reports a study made by himself on London children (Studies in 
Education, Vol. 2, p. 180). He wanted to know what they considered 
"the prettiest thing." Children seven and eight said flowers, animals 
and dolls. Little children seemed to prefer dolls. Landscape, un- 
important with children of seven and eight; very important, however, 
with children of twelve and thirteen. "Buildings, pictures and other 
works of art," he found, "are not strong centers around which to 
gather artistic feeling at any time in the elementary school." 

Sex Instinct. — It is a question whether sex impulses as 
such are experienced during the period of childhood, except in 
abnormal cases. These impulses begin to appear in greater 
or less degree during the juvenile period — the period of boy- 
hood and girlhood, especially during the latter part of the 
period, just preceding puberty. But at puberty a great change 
takes place. During puberty and early adolescence, these 
sex tendencies become tremendous forces in the individual, 
and the problem of education is how to long-circuit and subli- 
mate them into higher forms of psychic life. The problem is 
how best to assist adolescents in crossing this pons so that they 
will arrive safely at sexual maturity and that, during this 
period, sex tendencies, in a large degree, shall have been trans- 
muted into love of the beautiful, into broad human sympathies, 
into healthy religious tendencies, as well as right ideals and a 
broad outlook on the future. Along no other line can parents 
and teachers do more and better work in insuring the future 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 53 

integrity and strength of family life and in improving- very 
materially the condition of eugenics, than in more intelligent 
and faithful work along the lines of sex education. 

Sex differences are manifested in the plays and games 
of children. This is perhaps due in part to environment, but 
it is also due, to a great extent, to sex. The girl is interested 
more in the doll play and in plays that act out domestic life. 
Boys, on the other hand, take more interest in rough plays 
and games and in plays that are related to the occupations of 
men. While much of this is due to social environment, yet it 
no doubt has a sex background. 

During the pubescent period there appears what Dr. Hall 
calls callow calf love. We see this between the sexes in the 
upper grammar grades and the early part of the high school. 
We note it in such games as drop-the-handkerchief, and Lon- 
don bridge. It is also seen in many of the social functions of 
the pubescent. Boys exhibit this sex tendency in their at- 
tempts at showing off, such as walking on their hands and 
turning somersaults, etc. Girls often reply to such overtures 
by pretending not to notice what is being done to attract their 
attention. Again, they may look on approvingly, with re- 
sponsive giggles. Attachments between the sexes at this time 
are of short duration. 

Later on in adolescence the question of sex attachments 
becomes more serious, especially with girls who are, by nature, 
more emotional than boys. As was suggested above, these 
tendencies should be long-circuited and sublimated as much 
as possible : but T believe this problem can be solved in part 
by the method of katharsis. Allow the girl, and the boy for 
that matter, to read love stories of standard quality. In this 
way some of these dangerous tendencies can be drafted off. 
Much wholesome work can be given in romantic literature that 
appeals to the adolescent, and will help very materially in the 
forming of right ideals and standards in the realm of the sex 
tendencies. 

At the advent of puberty there is a parting of the wavs 
in almost every respect, in the physical and mental traits of the 
sexes. It is a question whether it would not be better to 
separate the sexes in practically all class work. In early 
adolescence one advantage in separating the sexes is because 
the girl has greater power to draAV upon her forces than does 
the boy. The presence of the opposite sex, at this age, often 
tends to the stimulation of rivalry and emulation. This may 
easily become a menace to the girl's health, as well as to im- 
pair her powers of maternity. 

Boys and girls should not be denied the privilege of 
healthy association with one another. This is necessary to 
their best development. The mutual stimulation of the sexes 
is necessary to an all around development. 

The aesthetic instinct is closely related to the sex impulse, 
for it is a well known fact that the love of the beautiful is very 
materially augmented with the advent of adolescence. It is 
held by many that the aesthetic instinct grew out of the sex 



54 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

instinct, or perhaps better, that it evolved with the sex instinct. 
This makes it possible to transform or sublimate much of the 
sex forces into a love of the beautiful. 

The development of the sex instinct augments very ma- 
terially the development of the imagination, which is the 
great creative power of the human mind. It is possible to 
transmute much of the creative principle of the sex instinct 
into creative forces of the imagination as is seen in mechanical 
inventions, literary creations, and masterpieces in sculpture 
and painting. 

Groos thinks that the sex instinct is expressed in the form of 
play in those animals that have a period of youth. "Such phenomena," 
he says, "are common among young dogs and apes" and "in an ante- 
lope only six weeks old." In the adult, courtship is carried on, ac- 
cording to Groos, in various ways; by chasing each other, fluttering, 
dancing, by coyness on the part of the female, by displaying form 
and color, by chirping and singing and drumming, etc. 

Sanford Bell has a valuable study on "Love between the Sexes" 
(American Journal of Psychology, July, 1902). He studied the periods 
of childhood, (three to eight) and the juvenile period, (eight to twelve 
or fourteen). He found that in the first stage the demonstrations are 
spontaneous, profuse and unrestrained. Shyness, sense of shame, or 
self-consciousness are absent. They do not know as yet what sex 
means. H there is shyness, it is in other actions as well. They 
manifest their affections by giving gifts and sharing choice possessions. 
The gift is valued for its intrinsic worth. Through these early attach- 
ments, refractory children become docile. Ideas of marriage are often 
present. The most beautiful and attractive children are usually chosen 
or are favored. Jealousy is prominent. During the second period. 
Bell found conditions as follows: "It is characterized by the appear- 
ance of shyness, of modesty, especially in girls of self-consciousness 
and consequent efforts toward self-repression; by the inhibition of 
the spontaneous, impulsive love demonstrations so freely indulged in 
during the previous stage (childhood). Boys are more secretive than 
the girls, but the tendency to conceal the love is present in both." 
This he thinks the reason why there were fewer returns for this 
period than for the previous period. They were more successful in 
hiding their love, so were more difficult to observe. Pairing was 
conspicuously absent. 



PART III. 

In this summary a cross-section by periods will be made 
of the innate or instinctive tendencies treated in the fore-going 
pages ; also, some supplementary matter will be given. 

Four stages are recognized, infancy, childhood, juvenile 
and adolescence, with three transition periods, first dentition, 
second dentition, and pubescence. The first period, with 
which we are specially concerned, is that of childhood, or the 
kindergarten period. 

From birth to seven, the brain grows rapidly, both in bulk 
and weight, but after four the rate of growth falls ofT markedly. 
The energy of the brain cells is being consumed in their own 
growth and the putting out of processes to connect them with 
other cells. It is a period of structural development — a period 
of preparation for future functioning and its correlative on the 
side of activity is play. This is not a time for the stress and 
strain of serious work, but is the period of spontaneity. It is 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 55 

truly the kindergarten period. This is the period when the 
motor and sensory areas of the brain are functioning; hence 
the child's motor tendencies should be allowed to function in 
many and varied ways through play and other spontaneous 
channels. Likewise, he should be abundantly supplied with 
sense material. This is a period of activity and sense objects. 
The nerve centers that control the large fundamental move- 
ments of the body are functioning and co-ordinations are being 
established. These centers belong to the lower levels. 
Racially, they are the older and more stable. They should 
have their inning during childhood. The later and finer acces- 
sory movements which develop during the juvenile and adoles- 
cent periods depend for their successful functioning on how 
well these larger and more fundamental movements are de- 
veloped during childhood. 

Based on the child's motor tendencies, as well as on his 
expressive and constructive tendencies, is the subject of draw- 
ing. Whatever he does in this subject, his movements should 
be large and free and spontaneous. There is a tendency for 
the child to draw what is in his mind, rather than the objects 
before him. It is more a tendency to express than to represent. 
His tendency to represent things in his drawings does not 
function much before the juvenile period. This work during 
childhood may be called picture writing. He should be led to 
tell many stories in this picture writing, though it be crude ; 
for this is truly expression and aids much in this aspect of his 
education. 

Related to this work in which. likcAvise, the instinctive 
tendencies of expression, construction, movement, imitation 
and play are involved, is the work in sand, clay, paper-cutting, 
and gift work, the phase of the work given being that involving 
only the larger, freer movements. 

This is the period for the individual to gain such mastery 
of his mother tongue that the subsequent study of another 
language will not tend to corrupt his pronunciation or English 
idiom. It is a question whether any other language should be 
taught during the period of childhood but the mother tongue. 
Chief emphasis should be laid on the Anglo-Saxon element, 
which represents the fundamentals of the mother tongue. 

The principal instincts that are involved in the child's 
learning of the mother tongue are the expressive, motor and 
dramatic instincts, and especially the instinct of imitation. It 
is, perhaps, not too much to say that if the child is so environed 
that he hears nothing but choice English, imitation will do the 
rest. 

The child's literary and historical interests center in the 
Mother Goose rhymes and jingles, the fairy story, and the 
myth. These are made up of fragmentary sense pictures in 
which causal relations are left out. They are the true basis, 
however, for later work in literature and history in the more 
mature and adult sense of the term. The historical sense does 
not manifest itself much before the ninth or tenth year. 



S6 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

The child's rhj^thmic tendencies have much to do in cul- 
tivating his literary sense, especially for poetry. This is the 
basis for his interest in rhymes and jingles, as well as for his 
interest in dancing and other rhythmic movements of the body. 
This tendency is also at the basis of his interest in music. 

The instinctive tendencies that are at the basis of his in- 
terest in the fairy story and myth are chiefly the animistic, 
hunting, and religious instincts. His mythopoeic tendencies, 
which are a phase of his animistic tendencies, are very active 
in these early literary forms. This is his attitude toward the 
world, and it is through such literary forms that the world 
must be revealed to him. Through myth and story, much of 
fear is purged from his soul ; he is brought into close and sym- 
pathetic relations with his environment, and he tends to get 
into right relations with those forces of nature that are above 
and beyond him, and thus is his religious nature truly culti- 
vated. 

Closely related to his literary interests is his interest in 
nature and practically the same tendencies are involved. These 
subjects should be closely correlated. The collecting instinct 
is active and can well be made a way of approach in leading 
the child to an interest in nature. Imitation acts in conjunc- 
tion with the collecting instinct,- so that the child collects any- 
thing that he sees others collecting. Nature poetry should be 
closely correlated v/ith the child's work in nature study. 

The cause and effect relations that belong to science are 
not within the comprehension of the child. These powers do 
not belong to the sensory-motor areas, but belong to the higher 
levels and mature much later. His interest in nature is, to a 
great extent, mythopoeic. He is not interested in cause and 
effect relations, but his thinking is fragmentary. He deals 
with individual objects that appeal to him through his senses. 
In the natural history phase of his interest in nature, his in- 
terest is chiefly in collections, but not in the classification of 
these collections. 

The child is unable to grasp ethical relations ; hence his 
moral training must be based on example and authority. What 
is allowed him is right and what denied him is wrong. This 
continues to be the condition well into the juvenile period and 
in a vanishing degree till puberty. The child's moral stand- 
ards are based on concrete and specific facts, x^uthority itself 
is a fact of his sense experience. Argument and reason are 
not to be used in the moral training of the child. Implicit and 
prompt obedience should be exacted of him. His moral sense 
is automatic, or at most only incipient. 

The child's imagination is very active and his discriminat- 
ing judgment is lacking. As a result, he is subject to illu- 
sions and delusions, especially the latter. This accounts, in a 
great measure, for the frequent tendency among children to 
lie. This apparently evil tendency in children is not to be 
taken too seriously, for usually it fades out as the child's judg- 
ment develops. 

The imagination is an ever present element in practically 
all of the instincts that function during the period of child- 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 57 

hood This is especially true of the play instinct. Every kind 
of activity that the child is interested in has its play aspect. 
In fact, this play aspect is his interest in the activity, so that 
this whole summary of the period of childhood is really a dis- 
cussion of his play interests. The child's emotions are im- 
pulsive and with little depth. He is wholly self-centered. He 
must be egoistic in order that later he may be altruistic i his 
is his normal condition. The child cannot apply himself to one 
thing for any length of time. Control and inhibition are his 
in small degree. 

Following the period of childhood is a brief transition 
period covering about two years, from seven to nme. It is 
the period of second dentition and is a period of general re- 
adjustment which causes many disturbances. Chewing surface 
is considerablv reduced ; the heart is not well adjusted to its 
work • breathing is somewhat affected ; more susceptibility to 
fatigue. The brain has practically finished its growth m weight 

and size. • j- • j i 

In regard to the tendencies and interests of the individual 
during this period, there are perhaps none peculiar to this 
period. They are, on the one hand, tendencies and interests of 
the previous period, in varying degrees— either fading out, 
acting with equal or increasing vigor; or, on the other hand, 
they are incipient tendencies that are nascent during the juve- 
nile period. The tendencies and interests that we find in the 
individual of about nine years of age— the beginning oi the 
so-called juvenile period— have already been functioning in 
greater or less degree during the transition period just men- 
tioned. There should be as little stress and strain as possible 
during this transition period. . 

The periods of infancy and childhood were periods ot 
rapid brain growth, in size and weight. The work of struc- 
tural development and neuro-muscular co-ordination are now 
well under way at the age of nine, the beginning of the juvenile 
period. This was well begun during the transition period just 
described. In this co-ordination the muscles are co-ordinated 
in their actions with the emotions and the intellect. As com- 
pared with the fancies of childhood, the imagination has 
advanced considerably in its development, due especially to 
the growth of discriminating judgment. Imagination is still of 
rather a low order as compared with the imagination of the 

adolescent. 

Motor tendencies are nascent during this period. Growth 
is much slower and on this account there seems to be an ac- 
cumulation of energy. The juvenile has great power to resist 
disease and fatigue. He is capable of much mental drudgery. 
He is very active, due to this superabundance of energy. This 
is the time for drill, habituation, and mechanism. 

These motor tendencies are closely bound up with general 
mental development. This is especially true of the relation- 
ship between the hand and the brain. The motor and con- 
structive tendencies function together and make possible much 
work in manual training. Activity is no longer an end in itself, 



58 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

but the interest is rather in what may be accomplished through 
the activity. For this reason the juvenile should be allowed to 
make that for which he will have some immediate use. Utility, 
rather than skill, should be sought now. Co-ordinations of the 
finer muscles have sufficiently taken place in the hand, vocal 
apparatus, and eye, so that this may be considered the nascent 
period, for writing, drawing beginning work in manual train- 
ing, and reading ; also the acquiring of technique on musical 
instruments. This is the best time to learn correct pronun- 
ciation of a foreign language. 

The expressive instinct is functioning vigorously at this 
time, and in conjunction with the constructive and motor in- 
stincts, much effective v/ork may be done in drawing. There 
should be much drawing as a form of expression. He should 
represent, in the form of drawing, things as he sees them, 
whether an object of sense, or an object of thought — a mental 
picture drawn from the fields of literature and history. In 
such a way, a true foundation is laid for art. 

The work in expression during this period should be 
chiefly oral. The short circuit from ear to mouth should be 
used because it is biologically much older and hence more 
fundamental than the long circuit from eye to hand, which is 
recent in its origin. Hence, written composition should be 
subordinated to oral expression. In this way, the child will 
be led to write as he speaks and this fluency and cogency will 
be established in the use of the pen. The expressive instinct, 
if allov/ed to function normally, leads the individual to ex- 
press that which is within, but through wrong methods it is 
often perverted and arrested in its development, and is made 
bookish and formal. 

The instinct of expression may function in an effective 
way through song. The child's emotions may flow out 
through this avenue of expression and through this method of 
cultivating the emotions he may be taught to love home and 
fatherland ; to come into closer harmony with nature and to 
experience a true religious growth. 

Since the expressive instinct is nascent at this time, and 
verbal memory active, and since language interests run high, 
this is the fitting time to teach the child the rudiments of 
whatever foreign languages he is to learn. If anything is ever 
to be done in Latin and Greek, the work should be begun dur- 
ing the latter part of this period. No work in grammar should 
be introduced. This belongs to a later period. 

Through the functioning of the self-regarding instinct, 
together with related instincts as rivalry and emulation, the 
child is interested in biography and hero stories. Through his 
interest in the hero story, the child should be made acquainted 
with the great characters of these literar}^ sources, as Ulysses, 
Aeneas, Siegfried, King Arthur, etc. Also Old Testament 
characters. These stories will help very materially in forming 
right ideals and in cultivating a taste for good literature. These 
tendencies and interests form the way of approach in teaching 
history as well. It should be taught in the form of story and 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 59 

biography. In fact, we might say that literature and history 
are one and the same thing Here, if the historical matter used 
has a literary style. Otherwise, there is a slight divergence. 

Self-assertion is shown in many of the games played. This 
is due, in great measure, to motor tendencies in which co- 
ordinations are being well established. In such games, the 
instincts of rivalry and emulation function vigorously. In the 
earlier part of the period, many games are still played in which 
imitation is present ; but this becomes a vanishing quantity 
with the development of motor and self-assertive tendencies. 
Later in this period, as the gregarious instinct makes itself 
felt, there is a tendency to play co-operative and group games. 
Tendencies that belong^ed to the individual are passing over to 
the group. The instinct of co-operation is still too weak to 
hold these groups together any length of time. 

The functioning of the gregarious instinct during the lat- 
ter part of this period leads to an interest in his fellovv^s rather 
than in adults. Boys and girls are interested in members of 
their own sex who are of about their own age. This instinct, 
especially a little later, leads to the forming of clubs and gangs. 
Such organizations, if properly directed, may be turned to 
educational account. This is the point of contact in the social 
education of the child. Beginnings may be made here in cul- 
tivating altruism, though there is still much selfishness, 
thoughtlessness, and cruelty in the individual at this time. His 
hunting instinct is functioning now. This leads him to go out 
on predatory expeditions, to steal and destroy. This is the 
time when the boy wantonly destroys life. The collecting in- 
stinct is active now and there is a tendency to classify, in a 
crude way, what is collected. The collecting and hunting in- 
stincts should be taken advantage of in leading the child to an 
interest in nature, which now may be made a natural history 
interest. The aesthetic instinct which is functioning in a 
crude way may be enlisted here in making collections of beau- 
tiful objects. Immediately bound up with these interests is 
the interest in geography, which should be chiefly home geog- 
raphy. The juvenile should be made thoroughly acquainted 
with his environment — not only its topography and its natural 
history, but also he should become acquainted with its indus- 
tries. The juvenile is interested chiefly in action, so that 
in the work in literature he is interested chiefly in narrative. 
This narrative literature should have much of the heroic ele- 
ment, but action should be the predominating element, whether 
prose or poetry. Since verbal memory is very active, much 
choice material from literature should be committed to mem- 
ory. Based on his interest in animal life, much work should 
be given in nature literature. 

His moral and religious tendencies are not very active 
yet. In his moral training, reasoning should still be absent 
to a great extent. It should be based on authority. He 
should be trained to habits of obedience. On the side of his 
religious tendencies, form and ceremony appeal to him. He 
should be trained to habits of respect and reverence. 



60 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

The first two years of the adolescent period are usually 
known as the pubescent period. This is a period of radical 
readjustment, both physically and mentally. It is a period of 
greatest bodily growth. The heart grows more rapidly, pro- 
portionately, than do the blood vessels, causing an increase in 
blood pressure. The chest capacity increases markedly. The 
sex organs are developing. Brain cells are taking on their 
final form and function, as to grouping, centers and connec- 
tions. There is now a rapid development of association fibers. 
There is a great tendency to nervous disorders. There is often 
a disproportionate growth of bones and muscles, which causes 
awkwardness. Motor tendencies revert, to a certain extent, 
to functioning through the fundamental muscles. Emotional 
tendencies take definite shape and dominate the life. They 
appear in such forms as anger, jealousy, fear, love, pity, rivalry, 
emulation. The individual is pugnacious, sympathetic, lazy, 
self-conscious, Doetic, romantic, self-sacrificing, self-assertive, 
moral, immoral, given to revery and dav dreams — he can be 
almost all of these in a short space of time. This is a new 
birth and the self is reaching out in manv directions. 

Hereditary tendencies now come upon the stage and fight 
for mastery. Life becomes real and serious. Heroism and 
criminality may now become real in the life. There is a ten- 
dencv to be influenced bv adults, rather than bv companions. 

The self-rerrarding instinct is nascent. Its manifestations 
are seen in bashfulness. self-mnsciousness. self-assertion, 
modestv. reverence, resnect, docilitv. shame, boastinjr. swag- 
gering, vanity, and fool-hardiness. Thron.o-h the right func- 
tioning- of these tendencies;, the individual finds his true place 
as a member of societv. The functioning of these tendencies 
has much to do with his interest in literature and history. The 
instincts of rivalry and emulation are closely related and aid 
in creating this interest. With the aid of imagination, these 
tendencies have much to do in the forming of ideals. Through 
the functioninp- of these tendencies, the individual grows in- 
trosDective. If normal, he thus cets a true perspective of 
himself. This passes over into self-respect and out of this 
grows a phase of altruism — a respect for the rights of others. 

The instinct of curiosity is now very strong. There is 
scarcely a thing in Avhich the adolescent may not be made in- 
terested. 

The collecting instinct is still functioning, and in addition 
to its scientific aspect, it takes on a social aspect. There is 
often much sentiment attached to the things collected. It 
sometimes becomes a fad. 

During the period of pubescence, and adolescence immed- 
iately folloAving. the expressive tendencies are not equal to 
the task of expressing what is in the soul. Impression is now 
much greater than expression. Examinations are by no means 
a true test of what the youth knows and feels. 

The rhythmic instinct functions now in its highest forms. 
With the aesthetic instinct, it is at the basis of the auditory 
appeal in literature and music. The adolescent enjoys the very 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 61 

highest forms of poetry. These two tendencies should be 
stimulated far more than they are, by giving more work m 
poetry and music in the schools. Work m nature study may 
be correlated with literature. The adolescent is keenly alive to 
the beauties of nature, poetry and music. 

The constructive, aesthetic, and expressive instincts are at 
the basis of the work in drawing in which now the art aspect 
should be emphasized. Masterpieces should be available m 
great works of art to aid in building up right ideals and stand- 
ards of beauty in art. 

It is during the adolescent period that the moral instinct, 
in a true sense, functions. This instinct functions in connec- 
tion with the self-regarding instinct, and leads the individual 
to conform his life to standards making for his own good, and 
for the good of others. Through these instincts and the gre- 
garious instinct he comes to know his true place in relation to 
those about him. 

The general condition of readjustment during the early 
part of the adolescent period— the pubescent— with its attend- 
ing uncontrolled emotions brings on a feeling of unrest which 
appears in one form in the functioning of the migratory in- 
stinct. This is the runaway and truant period. This feeling 
of elsewhereness may be worked off through manual training 
and excursions to study nature first hand. 

In the true sense, the religious instinct functions, with the 
dawn of adolescence, usually during its first part, pubescence. 
The religious instinct is closely bound up with the sex in- 
stinct in its functioning. It is a transition from egoism to 
altruism ; a coming into harmony with the great forces about 
him. This pons must be crossed, whether suddenly or slowly, 
else the self must ever live within narrow bounds. He must 
come into harmony with this larger life and be guided by it. 
There is a sense of incompleteness. Dimly he feels a larger 
world into which he would enter. This upward and outward 
push of the soul can be fostered and satisfied, in a great meas- 
ure, through contemplating the great forces of nature and 
through the study of literature, in which sublimity and grandeur 
and beauty are found, reflecting these elements as found in 
nature and in the lives of men. 

The play instinct should be allowed to function in har- 
mony with the other tendencies of the adolescent. They should 
develop the social consciousness. They should develop manly 
and womanly qualities. They should cultivate altruism. 
Through them dangerous emotional tendencies should find a 
vent and be .sublimated to higher forms of functioning. Co- 
operative and group games are chiefly in order now. Such 
games as foot-ball, basket-ball, base-ball and tennis are usually 
played at this time. 

At the advent of puberty, the sex instinct begins to func- 
tion. As has been shown in the discussion of the other ten- 
dencies of adolescence, it brings with it radical changes all 
along the line. There is a parting of the ways in almost 
every respect between the sexes at this time. The question 



62 INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 

for education to solve in this matter of sex education, is how 
to sublimate these sex tendencies and to transform them into 
higher forms of psychic life. Many tendencies are radiations 
from sex, chief of which is the aesthetic. By stimulating this 
tendency through art, literature and the study of nature, sex 
tendencies may be sublimated to higher planes of functioning. 

The characteristic differences between the sexes may be 
noted as follows : In the boy, reflection and judgment are 
more strongly developed. He loves adventure; is more cour- 
ageous, independent and patriotic. The girl is more sentir 
mental; more sensitive to what people say and think of her. 
Her sympathies are keener; her moral impulses are stronger; 
she is more religious. Her powers of imagination are 
stronger; her intuitions truer. She acquires reserve, dignity, 
and poise much sooner than does the boy. 

In conclusion, we may say, the way of approach to the 
child is through his native interests, which, in turn, are con- 
ditioned by his innate or instinctive tendencies. He is ad- 
justed to his environment largely through imitation. Play is 
training for later serious activities. The functioning of early 
tendencies conditions the functioning of later ones ; funda- 
mental development conditions accessory. There is a law of 
succession here, based on recapitulation. Plasticity and 
adaptability depend on the number and variety of tendencies 
stimulated to function. The innate tendencies are the forces 
in the child's life that initiate experience, which, passing over 
into habit, leads to character building. In character building 
the innate tendencies furnish the impelling forces, while en- 
vironment furnishes the content. 

The highest laws of life, and therefore of education, are 
the laws whose foundations are on the very bed-rock of in- 
stinctive tendencies, which represent the very best that the 
past has to offer the present ; for these race tendencies are 
those forces that made for good in the lives of our forebears. 
Therefore, a true knowledge of how best to educate the child 
must be obtained through the study of instinct as related to 
education. 



INSTINCT AS RELATED TO EDUCATION. 63 



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INSTINCT AS RELATED 
TO EDUCATION 

By 
John Milton Mclndoo, Ph. D. 



A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF 
CLARK UNIVERSITY, WORCESTER, MASS., IN PARTIAL 
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE 
OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, AND ACCEPTED ON THE 
RECOMMENDATION OF G. STANLEY HALL 






DETROIT 

Published By The Author 

1914. 



